A wonderful softly-spoken narration tells a tale of how the lone priest of a Spanish missionary church once nursed a young swallow back to health after it couldn't keep up with its flock and collapsed within his abbey. He bonded with the creature as he helped it learn to fly again more strongly and when the day eventually came when the swallow flock returned, he had to say goodbye to his adored feathered friend but not forever, for out of the act of kindness something beautiful was brought about that gave life and joy back to a lonely place... The bird is a bit cutesyfied but this isn't a short animation that's about singing animals and music or comedy, it just tells its quaint story in a straightforward and perhaps even sombre way, but it was still a tone that I found to be very hopeful and heartwarming. It's one of the most visually pleasant little works of animation that I've ever seen, but not in a big flashy, loads of action and colourful things going on kind of way, it had more of an understated but to me very honest and endearing charm to it. The beautiful colours and rich details of the time-weathered old abbey and the backgrounds, I thought it looked like lush watercolour paintings come to life almost, so true to life. And I was very impressed by how realistically proportioned the padre was, the human form was something the Disney studios struggled with for quite some time when they started out. So I found this a beautiful and very uplifting short, and if you're a fan of vintage animations I'd put this as a real hidden gem. Very sweet story, I loved it.
Review of The First Swallow
