Far from the Tree is a 2021 American animated short film written and directed by Natalie Nourigat and produced by Ruth Strother. The film follows a young curious raccoon whose father often scolds her for inadvertently putting herself in danger. When she becomes an adult, she finds herself and her son in similar circumstances to her parent and herself.
The film was conceived in 2018, when Disney requested pitchesfor theatrical short films; the company eventually approved an unfinished pitch by Nourigat. Initially written as humans, the raccoon main characters proved a challenge for the animators, owing to a struggle to find the balance between anthropomorphism and realism. Far from the Tree premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 15, 2021, and was later released on November 24 of the same year alongside theatrical screenings of Encanto. Critical reviews of Far from the Tree were positive, with praise for its themes and emotion.
Plot[]
On a beach, a young raccoon and her father, who has a scar over his left eye, venture out from the woods in search of food. While the raccoon is quick to get distracted and veer away from her father's view, her father aggressively tries to get her to stay put. When her father is digging for oysters, the raccoon finds a seashell, listening to the ocean wave noises in it, but her father notices and destroys it. The young raccoon eventually follows a seagull to its flock, only to find a coyote ready to attack her. The coyote chases the raccoon and gives her a scar on her nose, only for her father to attack the coyote and climb to the tree and angrily scold the raccoon for leaving, pointing out his scar as a reminder.
Years later, the now-adult raccoon ventures to the beach with her own son, who acts much like she did when she was younger. When her son attempted to follow the seagulls into the shore, she angrily scolds him, only to catch herself acting like how her father acted towards her. The two reconcile and return to the same tree, where the raccoon gifts her son a seashell.