The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)

Last Friday I went to the Lantern Fayre event on 'The Level' in central Brighton. In the early evening the organising company played a series of international short films. the one I happened to sit down and watch was an animation, called 'The Man Who Planted Trees' or, 'L'homme qui plantait des arbres.' It was made in 1987 as I looked up afterwards, and set in the French countryside.
It was one of the most visually stunning animated films I have ever seen. The whole crowd sat watching through the entire half hour, transfixed in stunned silence. Even though aesthetically it is not the drawing style I would usually like, and I don't think I personally would do my own animation with the same look, it was still incredibly beautiful and really awe inspiring. The amount of work that clearly went into its construction is incredible, and I can't even imagine how long is must have taken to make a whole half hour film of frame-by-frame drawings. The action is so fluid and believable. 
The story too was captivating, and half the magic of the film lay in its narrative. Even though it was fairly simple in its plot, it was told so well and is amazingly engaging and entertaining.