"Moon of a Sleepless Night" is a stop-motion animation film directed by Takeshi Yashiro. It tells the story of a boy and a squirrel who embark on a journey to rescue the moon, which is trapped atop a tall tree, in order to bring back daylight. In this analysis, Swati Saxena and Vikram Kandukuri delve into the film's narrative, exploring its characters, symbolism, and the quest to identify its true protagonist. Their examination seeks to uncover how the story intertwines imagination and reality, offering viewers a layered and thought-provoking experience.
After watching the "Moon of a Sleepless Night," a few questions emerged. Who is telling the story? Did the child act innocent just to get out of home and indulge in the freedom of midnight? Why did the parents mistake a squirrel for a rabbit, or was the rabbit bluffing with a fake tail? Was the owl a paid actor in the life of the moon squirrel? Why is the moon squirrel a carpenter? Who was the protagonist of the story? What did we truly learn from the story?
Let's try to understand this tale by finding answers to these questions. The story starts with the Kaa-san (Mother) from the kid's vantage point. She starts by calling the boy into the room and asks him if he is unable to fall asleep, which results in his Otou-san (father) taking him into the woods in the hopes that physical exhaustion will make the boy sleepy.
Otou-san tells the child this wonderful tale of the moon on the sleepless nights and how nights start becoming longer because the moon is stuck on a treetop. The night shall only pass when the moon is free again, and it is the moon rabbits who live on the moon that help the moon to be free again. The characters, the dialogues, the instances, the blue sky, the forest, and the Oji-san (grandpa) looking out from his treehouse, and the imagination of the kid are crucial to the story's play.
Now that it has been established that a kid has told this story, it becomes believable; otherwise, an adult telling such a story would be sent to a shrink or asked if they had one too many to drink. This imagined reality of the moon getting stuck in trees sets the tone of discomfort for the left brain. On behalf of the child, one may feel cheated. And yet again, the shades of blue, especially the frame when the child sees the moon in the blue sky for the first time, is indelible from memory. The kid was the storyteller, and it was
his story to tell.
The next day, a talking humongous squirrel makes a visit to the kid's home, and they embark on a journey. Why did Kaa-san not get flabbergasted or shriek at the sight of a humongous talking squirrel who self-identified as a resident of the moon? Wasn't she scared of the squirrel – there was something cunning about it, or perhaps it was just overconfidence? At this point, the viewers also become the child's co-travelers in the adventurous journey. If moon rabbits can be accepted, then definitely moon squirrels are believable as well; only a child(-like mind) can convince themselves that this is a possibility. Kaa-san allowed the kid to leave because the child thought she would let him go, and any resistance was quelled by the reassurance of the strangest moon squirrel, who was wearing a muzzle.
Perhaps it was a squirrel and not a rabbit because squirrels do climb to the top of a tree and can remove the stuck moon from the tangly branches. In addition to that, the moon squirrel also explains why the moon gets stuck in the tree, as if the moon traverses at the altitude of the tree canopy, which is only believable for a three-feet-tall human.
Maybe the kid was also questioning Otou-san's story and trying to correct his misunderstanding. The moon squirrel was also a carpenter, the one job that the kid had observed exhaustively outside his home. And it also fits into the job description of someone who can axe the branches to let the moon go free. Hence, the imagination of the kid trying to fit what he knew and what he was told or asked to imagine connects the dots.
The owl was a teacher in disguise. It sent a gentle reminder from his father to keep the lantern always on, else he would be hurt in the darkest of nights. Then they end up freeing the moon, which up close looked like a patch of a cold desert with a monastery-like building on it. The story draws to a conclusion with the boy making the journey back safely. The movie can make you feel scared, protective, and leave you in awe.
Of the many sleepless nights, don't you wish you could shift the blame to the moon? Taking a walk might help sometimes. Nature has immense power to improve one's habits. But the current reality is that phones have become addictive. The wonder of unlimited information took over the magic of discovering lively ecosystems.
Going back to the imagined reality, these were some such created for us - that people are well-meaning and trustworthy, they wish good for you; that home is safe and open – you can always come back; that resources are limited – be thankful for what you have. None of it may be true in another's world.
Throughout the story, the viewer's search for the protagonist is unending. First, it can be assumed it was Otou-san because that is the most relatable character; it's easy to imagine oneself in his shoes as a storyteller. Then the boy took center stage; it was the kid who was guiding us throughout. Then the limelight is stolen by the moon squirrel because without it, there is no tale for the father to tell and no adventure of freeing the moon.
Revisiting the narrator's prologue will help us realize that it was the moon's story all along. The moon exists as is; our perception of it changes. The moon signifies, symbolizes, and inspires this story at every step of the way. The real protagonist was the moon; it is quite beautiful tonight after learning of this story. Let the kid wake up from his dream.
About the Writers:
Swati Saxena is a minimalist, voracious book reader, an avid traveller and made of funny bones. You can read more of Swati's writings, musings and thoughts @lostinmaps on Instagram. Swati is a development professional and a generalist who works in the space of systems design.
Vikram Kandukuri is a box full of thoughts. Once opened, It is very difficult to shut the lid. Vikram is a development professional with a generalist approach towards solving the micro and macro problems in the strategy and design of programs. You can catch him @avk_314 on Instagram.