No-No Shrinks revolves around the adventure of No-No, a very endearing duck-billed platypus who likes nothing more than eating and sleeping. The character first appeared as the main focus of a series of books by the writer Pauline Pinson and illustrator Magali Le Huche. This short film departs from the books to tell an original story. As it contributes to the long tradition in science-fiction films of imagining worlds in which characters suddenly become tiny (Alice in Wonderland, 1951, The Incredible Shrinking Man, 1957, Innerspace, 1987, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, 1989, and the list could go on), No-No Shrinks succeeds in keeping up the invigorating tempo of a scifi classic while retaining the interest of younger viewers, from age 4 upwards.
The film can also be understood as a tale about environmental protection. No-No the platypus, Magaïver the crab, Bio the rabbit, Zoubi the frog, Grouillette the tortoise and of course Grocroc the bear, who invented the shrinking machine, are so keen to avoid leaving a crisp bag stuck up a tree that they decide to shrink the tree so they can retrieve the blasted bag. But – oops! – No-No happens to be in front of the machine’s viewfinder just as Grocroc turns it on! Suddenly he finds himself reduced to the size of Greta, the lovely ant he meets as a result of this belittling mishap. Ultimately, this short film made with claymation – computer-generated images with touches similar to stop-motion – morphs into a romantic comedy guided by the dulcet melodies of a harp-playing ant. No better way to appease the queen ant, who rules the anthill with an iron mandible!
No-No’s experience gives us a chance to explore a miniature world. For adults, it’s a reminder that the world can seem daunting from a child’s perspective. For children, it’s an opportunity to realise that there’s always someone smaller than yourself.
