post #2258659

Ringing Bell (チリンの鈴, Chirin no Suzu, lit. Chirin's Bell) is a 1978 Japanese anime adventure-drama film adaptation of the storybook of the same name written by Takashi Yanase, the creator of Anpanman.

The film follows a little lamb named Chirin who lives in a peaceful pasture with the other sheep, eating and playing until one day a wolf known as Woe breaks into Chirin's farm and kills his mother.

Chirin swears vengeance, leaving his farm to find and kill Woe to avenge his mother.

The film and book are often seen as a dark subversion of cute animal protagonists like Bambi, Simba, Little Foot or Nemo who also had to experience the death of a parent at a young age but ultimately overcame their grief and survived/lived happy lives. Even though most of those characters came out after Ringing Bell. The story is meant to be a commentary on the vicious cycle of vengeance as Chirin's pursuit of revenge results in him turning into a monster worst than Woe and alienates him from basically every other character, leaving him all alone.