Absolutely charming, My Life As McDull follows a young boy (portrayed as a pig) with little prospects in life. He isn’t smart or handsome or lucky, despite his mother wishing such a life for him. McDull’s life unfolds through several vignettes, each one detailing a different period in his young life and told primarily through the perspective of an older McDull looking back on his past. Each one details a sort of disappointment in living and how a child’s clouded perspective of the world adds wonder to it regardless.

Truly the triumph of the film is in how grounded and realistic its messaging is. Rather than assuming an audience would connect to successes, the film leans into the shortcomings of an average life, knowing that the failures are more interesting. The aesthetics of the film lean into this as well. Rather than a lot of bright colours throughout the film, the storybook feel is achieved through more muted colours for the characters and environments, with some of the backgrounds being some sort of collage of photographs. The mixed media approach - which even pulls in CG elements - feels like a mixed bag and yet that mixed bag feels wholly appropriate for the mixed bag of ups and downs in McDull’s life. 

One segment that stood out to me in particular where an adult McDull talks about getting to enjoy a Christmas turkey. The segment is primarily told through little pencil-like drawings on a faded paper, driving home the nostalgia of the recanted tale, but specific moments are delivered in the same style we had grown accustomed to prior. This story gives new credence to the segments that came before, looking upon the prior moments with acceptance rather than regret. It’s honest and refreshing for a film aimed at children to embrace failure and say it’s okay for a life to not be grand.

Absolutely charming, My Life As McDull follows a young boy (portrayed as a pig) with little prospects in life. He isn’t smart or handsome or lucky, despite his mother wishing such a life for him. McDull’s life unfolds through several vignettes, each one detailing a different period in his young life and told primarily through the perspective of an older McDull looking back on his past. Each one details a sort of disappointment in living and how a child’s clouded perspective of the world adds wonder to it regardless.

Truly the triumph of the film is in how grounded and realistic its messaging is. Rather than assuming an audience would connect to successes, the film leans into the shortcomings of an average life, knowing that the failures are more interesting. The aesthetics of the film lean into this as well. Rather than a lot of bright colours throughout the film, the storybook feel is achieved through more muted colours for the characters and environments, with some of the backgrounds being some sort of collage of photographs. The mixed media approach - which even pulls in CG elements - feels like a mixed bag and yet that mixed bag feels wholly appropriate for the mixed bag of ups and downs in McDull’s life. 

One segment that stood out to me in particular where an adult McDull talks about getting to enjoy a Christmas turkey. The segment is primarily told through little pencil-like drawings on a faded paper, driving home the nostalgia of the recanted tale, but specific moments are delivered in the same style we had grown accustomed to prior. This story gives new credence to the segments that came before, looking upon the prior moments with acceptance rather than regret. It’s honest and refreshing for a film aimed at children to embrace failure and say it’s okay for a life to not be grand.