– Spoiler Review –
Packed with tons of lovely little details and bursting with heart, humor, and a focus on one half of the parental pair which doesn’t always get it in Star Wars, Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother” is pure delight from start to finish in their Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 short.
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tar Wars is more famously known for its characters and their father issues, from Luke/Leia with Darth Vader, Kylo Ren and Han Solo, Jyn and Galen Erso, and even in animation with Hera Syndulla and her father Cham, so when the franchise decides to center a story on a mother/child pair, it’s an event because it’s so rare, though it’s often not in a big medium like film, be it Maarda Andor and Cassian or Norra Wexley and Tommin in the Aftermath Trilogy. Aardman decided for their short they’d serve the underserved market, using their gleeful reverence for the Saga and typical tongue-in-cheek humor along the way, evident up front in how they modified one of the most famous movie lines in history, something even non-ardent fans or those who haven’t even watched the movie know, with their short’s title, “I Am Your Mother.”
As far as mother/daughter pairs go, Annisoukaline “Anni” Kalfus (Charithra Chandran) and Kalina Kalfus (Maxine Peake) are instantly relatable no matter the viewer, as Anni considers her eccentric, overbearing mother as an embarrassment and what kid hasn’t felt that way about a parent?! Sure, it’s not going to be the case with everyone, as we see in the antagonistic mother/daughter pair later in the short, but as one hits those teenaged years, being around their parents in social settings often doesn’t seem cool as one wants to be out of their shadow and on their own or with friends. Anni and Kalina are at this point, though Kalina isn’t quite aware yet. The pair lives away from the big city, under some highway, in a tug-boat like ship, so Anni’s desire to be a pilot has her looking at their bulbous ship with disdain and trying to hide the whole event from her mom because she’d rather not race than go in their ship with her mom. The ships we do see at the race are slick, one familiar to Star Wars: Jedi fans and another a dark inverse of Padmé’s starfighter, and comparably we might be sympathetic to Anni’s plight over their own ship, but Kalina forces the issue when she arrives to make sure her daughter has the lunch she packed her. Surprised there’s a race and ridiculed by the posh racers Julan Van Reeple (Bebe Cave) and her mother Dorota (Daisy Haggard), Kalina sees the insults for what they are and maneuvers into the starting line, joining the race much to Anni’s surprise.
I love how they deal with their issues throughout the race, as Anni doesn’t see what her mother’s doing for her and lets out her teenaged feelings about how the ship and Kalina herself are embarrassing to her. Kalina is hurt, but she lets actions speak louder than words, showing off her previous piloting skills and entrusting her daughter to show off her own after all the schooling she’s gone to. They work together, alongside Z-1, their slinky-like astromech droid dog, and come out on top in the race, reforming a slowly severing bond. Ironically taking Anakin’s big line and reformatting it to this ‘Anni,’ Kalina gets to speak the short’s title in the closing moments as the two hug and fireworks explode in the background, a joyous ending to a fun romp of an episode. Overall, it felt natural and very relatable how they worked through everything, while I appreciated Kalina’s response the most, not taking Anni’s feelings to heart, as if she maybe went through a similar thing at that age, and steps through it instead, giving Anni reasons to look past the embarrassing aspects and see the love behind it all. It’s my hope, as the franchise continues to expand and has space for more stories like this, future stories with mothers take notes from Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother.”
While “In the Stars” took their 3D animation and gave it a stop-motion-esque feel, Aardman is up to their usual stop-motion style, resulting in a short which feels lovingly crafted and purposeful in every ounce of its shots, the littlest of details packed in the background with care for fun references or to help tell the story. When watching the BTS video—there’s one for each short in the Extra’s section on Disney+ and you really shouldn’t miss out on them—it’s a little crazy to hear they were in production for a year and a half, even for something this short, but the end result shows all their time and effort was worth it. Some of my favorite little moments were the baby Wookiee juggling his doll while at their ship’s control, the tiny Death Star weapon the Van Reeple’s use, the little porg and batha wood carvings, an astromech head used as a planter, and Z-1’s slinky design, to name a few.
Here are a few other things:
- Alongside the BTS videos, there’s more to enjoy from each short, as composer Jean-Marc Petsas’ score is available on Spotify!
- I didn’t really mention him, even though it was a big feature beforehand, but it was very cool to have Dennis Lawson back and voicing Wedge Antilles for this short! He seemed to be having fun with the role and I liked the way they sort of joked around about the franchise’s penchant for merchandizing.
Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother” is a lovingly detailed love-letter to moms everywhere, with all the studio’s signature style and humor to boot, marking for a delightful entry in Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2.
+ Focusing on the mother/daughter and they are quite the pair
+ You can feel the amount of love that went into this
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
STAR WARS VISIONS REVIEWS
Vol. 2: “Sith” | “Screecher’s Reach” | “In the Stars”
Vol. 1: “The Duel” | “Tatooine Rhapsody” | “The Twins” | “The Village Bride” | “The Ninth Jedi” | “TO-B1” | “The Elder” | “Lop & Ochō” | “Akakiri”
Related Material: Art of Star Wars: Visions Vol. 1 (book) | Star Wars: Visions #1 (comic) | Ronin: A Visions Novel (novel)