Hundreds of Beavers is a gift. It’s brilliantly funny, and pays wonderful homage to the cartoon shorts of yesteryear, including their dark level of violence, the magic of Melies, the creativity of silent films, and the ability of a movie to take you in and captivate you even with its odd trappings.

Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) is a hard-drinking applejack cider craftsman, but a combination of a horrible winter storm and the local wildlife brings the whole thing crashing down around his ears.

When he comes round, he finds that he has to embark on a new career to make ends meet, he becomes a fur trapper. But learning those skills isn’t going to be easy. As he pursues rabbits, raccoons, and beavers (all actors in mascot costumes).

He works hard to learn, with some guidance from The Master Fur Trapper (Wes Tank) and The Indian Fur Trapper (Luis Rico) and finds his heart taken by the lovely Furrier (Olivia Graves) who is guarded by her father, The Merchant (Doug Mancheski).

Playing out like a live-action cartoon, there are lots of recurring gags, great costumes, and engaging portrayals by the performers Hundreds of Beavers is brilliantly silly, laugh-out-loud funny, and incredibly entertaining.

I was unsure of the film when I first got a look at the trailer, but when a friend raved about it, I decided to give it a shot. And it’s so funny!

I found myself completely caught out by how often I was laughing at some visual gag, or moment when Kayak claims yet another animal pelt.

Tews leans into the performance, and while more Bugs then Keaton, he puts himself out there, and isn’t afraid to make himself look goofy for the betterment of the film. In fact, that seems to be the mindset of everyone involved, and the love of their project is there on the screen.

This is one for anyone who loves the animation style of yesteryear, has a soft spot for The Three Stooges, loves the magic of movies, and the creativity that brings it all to life.

Cheslik and Tews wrote the script together, and hitting their IMDB page allowed me to find that they’ve done other work together, I may have to hunt down a little something called Lake Michigan Monster. If it’s anything like the wonder, and joy of Hundreds of Beavers, this duo has a brand new fan today.