On director Josh Hughes press website, he explains how “The Octopus” is a very personal film for him but intentionally cryptic. For many, it’s garnered a lot of definitions and dimensions. As well it’s also garnered some hidden meanings that Hughes is surprised to discover from his audience. No matter what you pull from his two and a half minute animated short, there’s not a single doubt that “The Octopus” is a truly powerful and startling animated short about a couple on the brink of destruction and the child that will inevitably pay for their pain.
Whether or not that’s the blunt meaning or only one of the meanings remains unknown, but “The Octopus” will translate well with many audience who will find something truly heartbreaking with the symbolism of a pigeon who transforms in to a seagull pulled in by the horrific tentacles of an octopus wading in the water. My definition of “The Octopus” is simply the heartbreak of marriage and the child who will soon know what pain is. Worse yet, he will know what his parents pain is and will be too small to even comprehend a grain of what they’re enduring with one another.
The child in the corner is a clear cut indicator of the boy who will be punished by his mom for his dad’s torment, and a son who will be home every night awaiting his dad’s inevitable return in hopes of garnering some attention, and as such desire a world where emotional pain is not a requisite for his daily routine. “The Octopus” is a wonderful animated short film, one that Hughes explains took two years, all to boil down to two and a half minutes. And the hard work shows, as the hand drawn black and white short film is startling in its sweeping imagery and seamless ability to morph in to the symbols Hughes conjures up that are obviously immensely personal and extremely painful to recollect in mere words.
Hughes explains in his press site that conveying his message about the movie would be too complicated, and I’m more than willing to believe it so. Clearly this is a man who knows adult problems long before he could develop in to one on his own, and through that his torment is made apparent with “The Octopus.” Too many of us lose our innocence before we’re old enough to learn how to ride a bike, and Josh Hughes film feels very much about that hard fact that we grow up too soon and experience the pain our parents force on us. Though it will carry meanings for every audience, “The Octopus” is very much about familial discord and the robbery of childhood to me.