Thoughts About Mary And Max

I just watched one of the most heartfelt and touching movies I’ve seen in a long time.

Mary and Max, a clay-mation animated movie, is the story of lonely, ugly duckling, Mary Daisy Dinkle, who lives in Australia. One day, while waiting for her mother to finish “borrowing” items from the store she happens across a phone book from New York City. She decides to arbitrarily write to one of the New Yorkers in the hopes that they would be her friend.

Mary end ups writing to Max Jerry Horowitz, a mentally impaired man who prefers to keep his own company rather than venture into the world outside. He doesn’t like loud noises, he doesn’t like strong smells, and one day upon witnessing 27 separate people throw their cigarette butts on the side walk, he writes the Mayor suggesting that the littering fine be raised to $1,000,000.

Mary letters to Max, little by little, end up breaking some of the barriers around Max’s life. Max’s letters to Mary end up shaping the direction her life takes.

Mary and Max is a great break from the usual story lines that come out of Hollywood. It’s cleverly written and beautifully animated. I caught myself actually caring about the Mary and Max characters… something movies don’t usually do for me.

Here’s the official trailer:

You can get more information about the movie over at MaryAndMax.com