English summary

A portrait of Owen Suskind. When he was a little boy, communication with him was not possible. Then his father discovered that his son knew by heart every single animated Disney movie – and found this a way to make contact with him.

In the 1990s, the parents of happy, talkative toddler Owen are at a loss when their 3-year-old son suddenly loses his ability to speak and his fine motor skills. The diagnosis of autism hits hard, and the specialists predict that he will likely never speak again. That seems to be the case for many years. Until, thanks to animated films like Aladdin and Bambi, he suddenly comes out of this shell and starts to talk in complete sentences. It turns out that he has used the Disney animations to understand the world.

Life, Animated is honest (problems are not denied) and at the same time it is a hopeful and inspiring portrait of autism. This movie is full of beautiful animation sequences that show how lonely and misunderstood people with autism often feel. Justifiably, this year the movie received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary.