''Ana y Bruno'' (English: ''Ana and Bruno'') is a 2018 Mexican animated horror comedy-drama film based on the novel, ''Ana'' by Daniel Emil. It was produced by Altavista Films and Lo Coloco Films, and co-produced by Ítaca Films and Ánima Estudios. After 13 years of production, the film was released in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on 31 August 2018, receiving favorable reviews. In Spanish. In Spanish. It was described as the most expensive animated film in the

Mexican film industry The cinema of Mexico dates to the late nineteenth century during the rule of President Porfirio Díaz. Seeing a demonstration of short films in 1896, Díaz immediately saw the importance of documenting his presidency in order to present an ...

with a budget of $104 million pesos (est. $5.35 million USD). In Spanish. The film has won three "Best Animated Feature" awards including one from the 61st

Ariel Award The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award reco ...

s in which the film has also earned nominations for "Adapted Screenplay" and "Original Score".

Plot

A young girl named Ana searches for her father to help save her troubled mother.

Voice cast

* Galia Mayer as Ana *

Marina de Tavira Marina de Tavira Servitje (born 21 November 1973) is a Mexican actress. She is internationally known for her role in the film '' Roma'' (2018), which received widespread acclaim and earned her an Academy Award nomination. Life and career She ...

as Carmen *

Damián Alcázar Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'', Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela in the Netflix series ''Narcos'' and ...

as Ricardo * Silverio Palacios as Bruno *

Julieta Egurrola Julieta Egurrola (born 13 June 1953) is a Mexican actress. She studied acting at Centro Universitario de Teatro and has participated in more than 41 theater plays. Filmography Film * ''El infierno tan temido'' (1975) * '' María de mi corazón ...

as Martita * Regina Orozco as Rosi *

Héctor Bonilla Héctor Hermilo Bonilla Rebentun (14 March 1939 – 25 November 2022) was a Mexican actor and director known for his movies Meridiano 100 and Rojo Amanecer. Bonilla died on 25 November 2022, at the age of 83. Filmography Film Television ...

as Mendez * Daniel Carrera Pasternac as Daniel

Release

The film had its premiere at the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

on 17 June 2017, and later

Morelia International Film Festival The Morelia International Film Festival (''Spanish'': ''Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia''; FICM) was founded in 2003 in the city of Morelia, Michoacán, México. It is an annual event that takes place during the second week of October. ...

on 28 October 2017. The film was released in theaters in

on 31 August 2018, distributed by Corazon Films. It later premiered exclusively on the Pantaya digital platform in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with english dub.

Box-office

''Ana y Bruno'' debuted at #6, grossing $16.8 million

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol commonly known a ...

in its first week, bombing at the national box-office. It grossed a total of $21.3 million pesos (est. $1.1 million USD) (through Excel file download)

Reception

Prior to its release, the film has received praise from other acclaimed Mexican film directors, including

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( ; ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Alfonso Cuarón, His accolades include four Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and seven BAFTA Awards. Cuarón made h ...

and

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

. The film received favorable reviews from critics upon release, with many praising the story and theme, while criticism is focused on the animation and content. In Spanish. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 71% rating based on reviews from 7 critics. The film was criticized by some parents, calling it "unsuitable" for younger viewers, and even caused some to leave theaters early during the film's showings. Mexico's RTC film rating system, gave the film an "A" rating, allowing attendance of viewers of all ages (equivalent to the "G"

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. F ...

rating) which received some backlash. The nature of the film's plot is focused on real-life situations such as

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

and

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, and has a "dark tone" which parents call "depressing". They also criticized the designs of certain characters in the film for being "terrifying". Other family viewers have praised the film's story and writing, while otherwise criticizing the overall content. It is believed that the film's controversy has led to its underperformance.

Accolades

References

External links

IMCINE profile (in Spanish)
* {{Ánima Estudios Mexican animated feature films 2017 computer-animated films 2010s Spanish-language films 2017 animated films 2017 films Mexican fantasy comedy-drama films 2010s fantasy comedy-drama films 2010s monster movies Animated film controversies Films about dysfunctional families Films based on Mexican novels Films about depression Films directed by Carlos Carrera Ánima Estudios films 2017 comedy-drama films Rating controversies in film 2010s Mexican films Spanish-language comedy-drama films