**Classics are created from works of art that speak to everyone through all times; they exhibit beauty, depth, acute insight, truth, inspiration. They often reveal new techniques or groundbreaking achievements. This animated short fulfills all of those characteristics and more. It has my vote for the greatest, most meaningful and important animation of all time. Its beauty is beyond mere prettines…

This is a gorgeously drawn animation that serves as a sort of pilgrimage for a wanderer who, lost high in the foothills of the Alps without any water, encountered a lonely shepherd - Elzéard Bouffier who tended around thirty sheep and together with his dog lived an ordered life of solitude. Returning to the man’s home, he befriends him and learns of his determination to plant oak trees. Meticul…