Just watched the DVD..

with my wife. We loved it. She had never heard of it. It was a 30-year time travel experience for me.

I am amazed the film today as I was when I was in elementary school. I had forgotten so many details of this little film. Its simplicity is deceptive.

As a child, I saw the film as "real life," a documentary. Not knowing the places spoken of in "Paddle to the Sea," the setting was the whole wild world. I thought it was wonderful that a little toy, made by a kid just about the same age I was then, could make such a journey.

Today, I am astounded by its complexity.. Paddle's simple story has him bear witness to many big ideas: man's effect on the environment, man's selfishness and selflessness, the circle of life.

Technical notes: At first, I was disappointed in the dirtiness of the film. It started looking like an old classroom filmstrip. I expected the whole thing to be digitally remastered, as clean as a new movie. It cleaned up a bit later, and I realized the imperfections of the dirty film-yness carried with it an old charm. I'm glad it didn't look perfect.

I can't tell if I'd be so appreciative of "Paddle to the Sea" if I hadn't seen so many years ago. I'm glad I did and I'm thrilled to have done it again.


L