A Mother Witnesses Her Daughter’s First Death in the Annecy Short *Cartoon Physics*

Cartoon Physics is a stop-motion short directed by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, about a mother retreating into cartoon logic after her young daughter finds a dead bird. It competed in Annecy 2026's sho

*Cartoon Physics* is a stop-motion animated short directed by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter. When her four-year-old daughter discovers a dead bird in the backyard, a mother is transported into a world governed by the logic of classic cartoons, where death and its consequences can easily be reversed. Inspired by a poem by Nick Flynn, the film is not about erasing a child’s first experience of death, but about observing how a parent tries to protect a child’s sense of wonder in the face of that experience. The moment when the rules of reality collide with cartoon imagination becomes the short’s central conflict.

The film was co-produced by France’s Miyu Productions, the Netherlands’ Ka-Ching Cartoons, and Switzerland’s Hélium Films. Annecy’s official information lists its runtime as 10 minutes and 53 seconds and describes its format as stop-motion using puppets. The mother-daughter relationship remains at the center, while cartoon devices that defy the laws of physics and biology visualize a reality the child has not yet accepted.

*Cartoon Physics* was selected for the short film competition at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. According to official announcements from Annecy and ARTE, the film was included in Annecy’s special programming on arte.tv from June 25, 2026, and was also featured on a late-night television program on June 26. Following its festival screenings and online programming, the film was presented as a work that explores both a parent’s imagination and limitations when confronting loss within a short runtime.