Céline Roustan
A Roomba-like vacuum roaming empty hallways, a male rabbit stuck in a routine, and a female rabbit waiting alone outside – it sounds like the setup to a joke. Instead, it becomes the opening of a surprisingly poignant tale about connection. In Tennis, Oranges, writer/director Sean Pecknold crafts a gorgeous stop-motion short that captures the emotional weight of loneliness with remarkable subtlety and impact.
“It grew from the rhythms, loneliness, dignity, and unexpected connections we witnessed on that street”
Discussing the film’s origins, Pecknold recalls the art space where he worked between 2015 and 2019 alongside production designer – and wife – Adi Goodrich. It was there, through people-watching and observing the community around them, that the seeds of Tennis, Oranges began to take shape. The repetition of each day, seeing the same people carrying out the same routines, fascinated him. “There was something comforting about their routines,” he shared. “The film isn’t a direct portrait of those people, but it grew from the rhythms, loneliness, dignity, and unexpected connections we witnessed on that street.”
Pecknold also revealed another, more spiritual source of inspiration. Although not religious himself, a visit to Northern California’s Avenue of the Giants gave him what he describes as “a kind of afterlife” feeling, inspiring the film’s more “bardo-like” dimension.
“The idea of a mostly wordless animated ballet felt like the right way in” – Pecknold discussing his storytelling approach
The premise of Tennis, Oranges is almost absurd, which makes it all the more surprising when it becomes clear that the film is not a comedy at all, but a meditation on very real and universal emotions. As Pecknold describes it, Tennis, Oranges explores “lack of connection, aging, the afterlife, the need for community, and the strange importance of being snapped out of whatever loop you’ve found yourself stuck in.” The screenplay is incredibly impactful, Pecknold making sure to convey its depth cleverly with beautiful metaphors. The film’s use of ballet – a synced choreography – alongside its classical score brings a sense of peace and comfort to the characters, and the audience, after witnessing them alone and/or miserable.
“A hybrid visual approach that blended stop-motion’s handmade textures with techniques more commonly associated with live-action filmmaking”
The film’s visual flair is especially striking, from a color palette that initially conceals the tone of the narrative to the animation itself. Pecknold labels it: “a hybrid visual approach that blended stop-motion’s handmade textures with techniques more commonly associated with live-action filmmaking, including our lens choices, deeper depth of field, larger sets, naturalistic lighting, and subtle camera movement.”
Major animation studios have long understood that there is something irresistibly compelling about animals and objects behaving like humans, and Pecknold taps into this tradition wonderfully in his film. Infusing Tennis, Oranges with a captivating warmth that makes us instantly connect with its characters, even that robot vacuum! But for me, it’s the way he made the rabbits’ ears move that really got to me, those small details moved me far more than I ever expected.
Tennis, Oranges had its world premiere at the 2024 edition of the SXSW Film & TV Festival, and went on to be selected at multiple other festivals including Annecy, Ottawa, AFI and Seattle. It also won Best Animated Short at the New Hampshire Film Festival, continuing its strong reception on the festival circuit.