In the Jungle There is Much to Do (En la Selva hay Mucho por Hacer) (1973) (1973)
Filed under: Animation, 1970s, collage, Color, Musical, Technicolor, Uruguay, Walter Tournier,
In the Jungle There is Much to Do (En la Selva hay Mucho por Hacer) (1973)
Directed by:Walter Tournier
Gabriel Peluffo
Alfredo Echaniz
Jorge Estela
Studio:C3M (Cinemateca del Tercer Mundo, Montevideo, 1969-1974)
Release date:?/?/1973
Running time:17 min
Color process:Technicolour
Synopsis
Inspired by a Uruguayan political prisoner’s letter to his daughter, In the Jungle There is Much to Do (El la Selva hay Mucho por Hacer) is a stop-motion musical animated short using the jungle animals’ struggle for survival as a metaphorical explanation of the prisoner’s time in jail.
In the Jungle is Walter Tournier’s debut film, made during his participation in the C3M (Cinemateca del Tercer Mundo, Montevideo, 1969-1974), marking the Latin American animation’s return to political commentary after decades of interest in comedic content (Menjívar). Tournier set on years of exile in Peru until 1985, when he returned to Uruguay (“Walter Tournier”). The film was awarded the Golden Age Award at the Latin American New Cinema Festival in Cuba in 1979 and the Best Animation Award at the Bibao Int. Documentary and Short Film Festival in Spain in 1977 (“EN LA SELVA HAY MUCHO POR HACER (1974).”). It was later archived by the Uruguayan Film Library (Cinemateca Uruguaya) (Ibid.).
References:
“EN LA SELVA HAY MUCHO POR HACER (1974).” cinedata.uy, www.cinedata.uy/catalogo/en-la-selva-hay-mucho-por-hacer.
“Walter Tournier.” IMAGENES, web.archive.org/web/20140102200535/http://imagenes.org/CVs/WT.htm.
Gómez Menjívar, Jennifer Carolina. “Animation in Latin America.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. July 17, 2024. Oxford University Press. Date of access 31 Mar. 2025, <https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-1245>