Crow Moon

Selina Cobley returns to the rich seam of Native American myth that influenced her 2002 animated short Takuskanskan. This time she turns her attention to the Crow Moon – the North American tribal name given to the last full moon of winter. At least, I assume that’s where she got the idea from.

It is the crows that are the thing here, however, living together and looking after one another. But danger lurks in the dark, so the feathered friends set about creating a light to banish it forever.

Cobley’s animation unfolds in a Just So story, How-The-Moon-Became fashion and her style is well-suited to mythical subjects, with her flowing lines feeling old and new simultaneously. She also manages to draw a huge range of emotion from her crows, despite the fact that they have no features and – once their wings are tucked in - they look almost human.