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| DVD cover artwork for the animated family film The Missing Lynx / El lince perdido. |
Animal
Autonomy by Linh
The
Missing Lynx (El
lince perdido) is a clever Spanish re-working of the biblical story about Noah who
was summoned by God to rescue every living animal by seeking two of every
species, one male and one female, and house them in an enormous ark while God
flooded the earth. However, it’s not the flood that the animals in this film
are fleeing.
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ESCAPEES:
Astarté, Beeetty, Rupert, Lynxette, Felix and Gus in the animated family film The Missing Lynx (El lince perdido). Image: Kandor Moon.
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In The Missing Lynx
(El lince perdido), the six stars of
the film all live in a special animal shelter situated in the gorgeous greenery
of Donana National Park, which houses many injured native animals or abandoned
offspring. Once these animals have recovered or are old enough to fend for
themselves, the shelter staff would release them into the wild.
Unbeknownst to the six friends, Noah (voiced by Julio
Núñez), the eccentric and benevolent millionaire, decides to launch his special
plan to rescue every endangered living creature on earth from extinction. He
hires the specialised but savage animal hunter, Mr Newmann (Stephen Hughes), to
capture two of every animal species, and bring them to Noah’s massive
state-of-the-art ship for safe-keeping. Noah also arranges equipment and
helpers for Mr Newmann to accompany him on the mission. As the bumbling henchmen break into the
secured area of the animal shelter, the six friends escape and avoid capture
from Mr Newmann. During the fracas, the female lynx named Lynxette (Beatriz
Berciano) is shot with a tranquiliser dart and captured. As Felix (David Robles) and his friends set
off to rescue Lynxette, they encounter dangerous obstacles like wild wolves,
and weirdly hilarious animals, such as Patty (Esperanza Pedreño) the pink flamingo
with an identity crisis.
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ATTRACTION:
Felix offers Lynxette a friendship wrist-band in the animated family film The Missing Lynx (El lince perdido). Image: Kandor Moon.
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The film’s hero is the accident-prone and
generous-spirited lynx named Felix, whose numerous mishaps makes him believe he
is jinxed, so he becomes a familiar face at the animal shelter. His friend Gus
(Abraham Aguilar) the chameleon, is a paranoid conspiracy theorist who believes
the humans at the animal shelter are planning on eradicating the animals, and
he also needs to work on his camouflage skills.
The nurturing, kind-hearted and extreme-sports enthusiast
She-goat Beeetty, voiced by Cecilia Santiago, (deliberate elongated vowels to
represent her speech patterns) is just as quick on her hooves as she is with
her comebacks when exchanging jibes with Gus. The silent achiever of the group
is the revenge-seeking Blue Hawk named Astarté (Conchi López Rojo), who has
suffered a long-term injury to her wings and fears she’ll never be strong
enough to fly again. She plucks up enough courage to hit the skies again and
surprises herself and impresses her friends when she succeeds beyond her
expectations.
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CAMOUFLAGE: Gus
attempts to blend in but ends up standing out instead, in the animated family
film The Missing Lynx (El lince perdido). Image: Kandor Moon.
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Lynxette is the newest addition to the animal shelter
after she was found injured in the desert. Felix is instantly attracted to her
and seeks her attention, but his clumsiness makes it difficult to connect with
her. Felix’s friend Rupert (Carlos del Pino) the mole has become a first-time
father after his wife gave birth to quadruplets, but he is forced to choose
between loyalty to his friends or saving his family.
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RHINO-SAW-US: Mr
Newmann is a big game hunter who tracks and kills all animals in the animated
family film The Missing Lynx (El lince perdido). Image: Kandor Moon.
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Actor-singer Antonio Banderas co-produced the film and
his collaboration assisted in the early stages of film production. During the
co-production, Banderas’s Green Moon studio merged with the film’s production
company Kandor Graphics to become Kandor Moon. Banderas is likely to be a
producer, casting director and voice a character in Kandor Moon’s next film project
with the working title Goleor: the Scales
and the Sword.
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ARK-DE-TRIUMPH:
Noah's specially built animal preservation ship docks at the beach in the
animated family film The Missing Lynx
(El lince perdido). Image: Kandor
Moon.
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The
Missing Lynx (El
lince perdido) has a wonderfully written script that interweaves messages
of friendship and loyalty with themes of ecological values throughout the
film’s narrative. It’s a film that
updates the biblical story into a contemporary discourse of protecting and
preserving endangered native animals in captivity versus their freedom to live
in their natural habitat and face imminent extinction. The film’s CGI animation
can rival that of DreamWorks, Pixar and Blue Sky, but does resemble video game
graphics during some of the action sequences. The Missing Lynx (El lince
perdido) is a highly entertaining and fun film for all ages.
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CAPTURED: Lynxette
feels helpless in the cage as Noah continues his preservation plan in the
animated family film The Missing Lynx
(El lince perdido). Image: Kandor
Moon.
|
Directors:
Raul Garcia, Manuel Sicilia
Writers: Raul
Garcia (screenplay), Manuel Sicilia (screenplay), Jose E. Machuca (screenplay)
Cast:
David Robles, Abraham Aguilar, Beatriz Berciano, Cecilia Santiago, Conchi López
Rojo, Carlos del Pino, Stephen Hughes, Julio Núñez, Esperanza Pedreño, César
Sarachu, David García, Javier García Sáenz
Producers:
Antonio Banderas, Enrique Posner, Antonio Meliveo, Manuel Cristóbal, Juan
Molina, Marcelino Almansa
Original
Music Composer: Sergio De La Puente
Film
Editors: Claudio Hernández, Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Language:
Spanish with English subtitles
Running
Time: 1 hour and 37 minutes
What rifle does Newman use
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