Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly was, put simply, amazing. The animators did a great job of capturing the different emotions displayed in each scene. I could feel the passion between Aria and the sailor during the love scene, I could feel her happiness when her daughter was born, and I could feel her sorrow and despair when her daughter was taken away. One thing I know about operas is that they are very good at bringing out the emotions of those who listen,

and I feel this animation does a great job in displaying the emotions the music wants to bring out in its audience.

I also liked the symbolism the animators used. I liked how the scenes were able to just flow

together nicely, and the symbols within each scene were able to flow with them. For example,

during the childbirth scene, the fishbowl is used to symbolize the actual birthing of the child,

the fish ultimately becoming the child. When the child is born, she is connected to her mother by an umbilical cord. This cord is kept in the animation and is used as a literal representation of the mother-daughter bond between the two, and when the sailor finally returns, that breaking of that cord is used to represent the breaking of the mother-daughter bond and Aria's entrance into despair. Ultimately, the reason the animation displays the emotions of the music so well is because the symbols used within it are able to tug at the strings of the audience's hearts.