Repeat after me: We are the forgotten children,
we have neither father nor mother. In the garbage we seek our future...
We are the forgotten children, we have neither father nor mother.
In the garbage we seek our future...
The future is past, garbage is the present!
Blood is our law!
The future is past, garbage is the present!
Blood is our law!
Remember what all this used to be like?
The sun, the rain, the smell of the breeze...
And the water... all clean, clear and transparent...
all those fish to eat!
Our island was prosperous and fertile.
The days were long and warm.
And our families were happy
working in the new industrial zone.
It was all so unreal... Do you remember?
DO you?
No, of course not.
You were too young.
It all happened in an instant.
If you'd seen them all lying there.
If you'd seen them all lying...
dead.
But of course, you don't remember...
"Birdboy: The Forgotten Children"
Search carefully; there's heaps of treasure here.
Don't let anything go to waste.
Above all, look for copper.
Get as much as you can, they pay a good price for it.
Copper is blood. Copper is life!
Why don't we look over there?
That lighthouse looks pretty intact.
The panes of glass are still there.
Never go into that lighthouse!
Never! You hear me?
There's nothing good in there.
But people say they've seen Birdboy there.
Birdboy is dead.
Are you sure? Someone said they'd seen him not long ago...
Maybe they did.
Maybe we can still see him.
But believe me, not everything with a body is alive.
Wake up, bird boy,
wake up.
Come on, get up. Don't be afraid.
This could be a great day.
It would be a shame to waste it.
That's right, Birdboy. Stay focused.
Ready...
Set...
Concentrate, fly low,
not too fast.
Watch out, that's a difficult dive.
Careful, bird boy!
Never give up.
Don't worry what people say about you.
It's ironic really,
but that bloody bird boy will never learn to fly.
What can you expect with a father like that?
I love you, son...
Time to go to school.
Wakey-wakey! Time to get up.
Wake up!
Would you just shut up?
You have to go to school, Dinky. Time to get up.
No, Dinky! Not again!
Why do you always have to hurt me?
I have feelings too.
Hey, young lady, where are you going in such a hurry?
Your mother told me what you did to poor Mr Reloggio.
Sit right down here!
I'm in a hurry. I'll be late for class.
I don't care where you've got to go! Sit down there right now!
Mother and I are very worried about you.
You've been acting very strangely recently, dear...
You haven't been taking drugs, have you? Dinky?
Just remember, "drugs are the devil's seed".
Zechariah, Chapter 3,Verse 5.
Leave her, father. She never goes to church anymore.
She has strayed from the path of the Lord.
Look, Dinky.
The Baby Jesus doll is crying blood because of you
and you just ignore Him.
Not to mention your school reports.
Look at him crying! Look at him crying!
You've failed six subjects again this term!
Little Baby Jesus is bleeding to death and it's your fault!
That's it! First Mr Reloggio and now Baby Jesus!
Will you never grow up?
But just look at Jonathan. Begging to be stroked.
I can't resist.
Oooh... The poor boy thinks I'm a lady.
He just wants a cuddle.
You see? You should follow your false brother's example.
Come on, champ. Tell them what you want to be when you grow up.
Come on, Jonny! Tell them!
Come on, champ! Tell them!
Engineer!
- Very good! Jonny the engineer! Engineer! - Very good! An engineer!
Yes! An engineer!
Of course! Johnny will be the best engineer in the world!
Won't you? Won't you?
Oh, Johnny, you're so wonderful.
By the way, Dinky, before you go...
We see you've been taking our happy pills.
Never do that again! Do you understand?
Please, Dinky. We just want to be like everyone else:
a normal family.
Dear Diary, I hate them.
I can't stand them any more.
They think they know everything, but they've no idea what I'm really like.
Oh, Daddy, I wish you were still here.
But from now on, that's all going to change.
[SCHOOL/FRIENDS]
They'll never see me again.
You little weed!
We're going to kill you! You make me sick!
No, please, don't hit me again. Let me go.
Look at him beg!
Coward! You're a coward, just like your father!
And your father's father!
Yes! And your father's father's father!
The whole disgusting family of cowards!
Look at him rolling up in a ball. Have you no shame?
Hey! Leave him alone!
What's it to you?
What do you want, eh? Eh?
Hey, man, drop it.
That's Sandra, you know, the one who keeps repeating.
Sandra, the loony.
They say she hears voices
telling her to do really terrible things.
What's going on here?
What are you doing out of school?
Good morning, Officer!
This fox has been holding up us
with his lies and his gossip. Don't believe a word he says.
Hi, Sandra. How are things? Don't you recognize me?
I dropped out of school. Now I have a gun.
Isn't it cool?
- Wow! I wish I had a gun! - Me too!
- How many birds can you kill with one shot? - Are you ok?
It's not how many you kill that matters, it's the quality of the deaths.
Shoot them through the heart and destroy their soul for ever.
Wow! Their soul!
I want to be a cop when I leave school.
Hang on in there, Mr Reloggio.
I know it hurts, but it's worth it.
That's it! Ha, ha, ha!
You look fabulous!
Like your new metal legs? At last you're free to make new friends!
You deserve it!
Now you can go out and see the world.
It really is a beautiful place, though sometimes it can be awful too.
The vilest place you can imagine!
Birdboy?
Are you there?
Birdboy?
Hey, Dinky! We're here. Are you coming up?
- Hi, Dinky! - Yes. Just coming.
Hi.
So you didn't get to say goodbye?
No, he never lets me see him.
Come on! Forget him! He doesn't love you anymore!
He never really did. - Shut up, Little Fox!
You lot don't understand.
Birdboy has a demon inside.
It's eating him up, devouring him from the inside.
It's like some parasite he can only placate with substances.
But I know he has a good heart.
Come on, cheer up! Just think what's ahead of us!
The big city! At last we'll be able to get off the island!
Yes! Everything's different over there.
Little White Mouse's brother went. He says he's really happy. He has a good job.
Little White Mouse is a fool.
- No, he's not! He's my friend! - Can't we just count the money and go?
That's pathetic. I thought we'd have managed to save more.
Isn't that enough?
No, but I think I know where we can get some more.
Here.
But that's really dangerous!
You're not scared, are you?
The only thing that really scares me is the idea of having to stay here
on this island, forever.
Dinky!
Where are you, Dinky?
Hello! Have you seen Dinky?
Oh, Gracious! Time is passing!
You'll never get time back.
Where are you, Dinky?
Oh, Heavens! This is terrible!
My brothers...
So much suffering.
It's a massacre.
Dear Birdboy:
Today's the day. I'm leaving.
You knew I'd been considering it for a long time.
Why not leave everything behind and come with me?
You could if you wanted.
Come on, be strong. Come out of your hiding place. I can't wait any longer.
Love... Dinky.
Why?
Why did I have to drop out of school?
Pretty Polly!
Why did I have to become a fisherman?
All the fish are dead.
Everything's turned against me.
I just hope Mother never finds out how I really make a living.
It would kill her.
Pretty Polly!
Would you just shut your beak?
If you don't be quiet I swear I'll cut out your tongue!
You've been nothing but trouble ever since you got here!
You're no help. You just get in the way!
That's all life is for you: eating, shitting and talking nonsense.
To be honest, I'm jealous.
It takes so little to keep you happy.
Ok, ok... I saw you.
God I hate having to deal with him.
The day Mother dies, I'm going to take the boat and get out of here.
Hi, bird boy.
So, how are things?
Here...
here it is.
You owe me eighty coins.
You'll have to pay soon. We've all got our problems round here.
I'd say from the breeze it's going to rain.
Rain's good. It stirs up the sea and cleanses it.
Who knows, maybe the fish might come back.
Ok, I get it, I'm going.
Careful, don't take too much. That's good stuff.
Pretty Polly!
Do you smell Birdboy?
Nothing, Sir, not a trace.
The bastard is always changing nests.
Clever lad,
that way we can't trace him and he can go on selling drugs to our children.
Damned trees! They get in the way!
We should cut them all down!
Don't worry, boss. He can hide, but he can't get away.
We've searched Zones 1, 2 and 3.
There's still the industrial zone, but...
Do we really have to go there?
That place is terrifying, Sir. There's no law there;
they're all outcasts.
Ssshh! Can't you feel someone spying on us?
Ha! You see?
In the war against crime, you have to be quick and decisive.
He was probably a friend of that bird boy.
I don't know, Sergeant.
Do you think so?
You've still got a lot to learn, lad.
Those filthy birds talk to the bird boy in their animal language.
They warn him of the danger.
You only have to look at them gawping with their filthy beaks,
flapping their germ-ridden feathers, spreading all sorts of foul disease!
You're right to be scared, son.
That boy learns quickly. He's turning out even worse than his father.
Remember when the lighthouse was still working?
It used to be very important for the island.
It guided the ships on dark nights and it lit the way.
The lighthouse keeper was Birdman, Birdboy's father.
He was a loner, though he seemed good-natured.
No one suspected what his warped mind was planning.
After the accident in the industrial zone, the lighthouse stopped working
and Birdman was out of a job.
One day, he put on a mask and some new wings, and with the help of his bird friends
he learned to fly amazingly skilfully.
Birdman used to fly from one side of the island to the other, carrying strange bundles.
Bundles of drugs that he'd distribute all round the island with those filthy birds.
It took us a long time to find out what they were doing.
[WANTED] When we did, we decided to hunt down that criminal.
It was me who shot Birdman down.
Can you believe it? My first shot and I got him right through the head.
Luck? I don't think so.
He died in terrible spasms before my very eyes.
I did what I had to do.
And now we have to do the same with Birdboy.
The sea surrounds everything.
It's as if it were our prison.
They say if you cross it, you come to a better place.
What must it be like to live there?
40
50, 70, 90, 110
and 120.
Don't you think you've got enough money?
There's no point going on feeding me.
Maybe it's time you started thinking about leaving here once and for all.
You're not a child any more.
Yes, but I can't go now. What about Mother? What she'll do without me?
Life shuffles the cards, but we're the ones who have to play.
Zacharias! Zacharias!
Take control of your life.
Zacharias!
What is it, Mother?
My head hurts. I need more.
I can't give you any more. You're killing yourself.
Think I care, you ungrateful child?
If you were a good son, you'd do it.
I'm so sick, and you just ignore me.
If your father could see you now, he'd turn his head in shame.
You don't work,
you don't do anything.
You can't even help your poor mother.
Yes! Yes!
That's right!
Yes! Yes!
Yes!
Excellent...
And now, you useless idler,
clean me and change the sheets; they're all wet!
Hey, where are you taking me?
Who's there?
Did you let someone into the house?
We're being robbed! We're being robbed!
Let me see your faces, thieves!
I want to see you! I want to see you!
Don't try to get away, thieves! I'll catch you!
You're mine!
No! No! No!
Curse those children! You fool!
They've taken all our money! The've taken everything!
How are you going to buy my medicine now?
You're no use to me without it! No use at all!
Lam so tired and you let them rob us.
You're just a burden to me, a nuisance!
Look what they've done to my leg.
I'm so tired...
Look how filthy the floor is!
Clean up all this rubbish and do something right!
I won't let you rest until you've recovered everything we've lost thanks to you.
Kill it.
And when you're finished, you useless idiot, go and get me some more medicine.
I need it! I don't care what you have to do!
I'm the only person you have in this world.
Who's going to love you when I'm not here?
Kill it.
Hey, what are you doing?
No! No!
Twelve o'clock!
Hi, brother.
You'll be late for class.
What are you doing? Brother?
Help!
Brother, help!
Ha, ha, ha! It's full of money!
We should have enough with this.
- Yes! We're rich! - It's all worked out perfectly.
Eh, hey! Just a moment! Wait! Don't leave me here!
The tide will get me. I'll be lost.
I feel so empty.
What are you doing? Let's go! Leave that junk there.
He's not junk, he's just a simple little object who's afraid of being alone.
Oh, thank you. That was beautiful.
Danger, Birdboy! Danger!
You're trapped, Birdboy!
You can't get away!
Shall we get him, Sir?
Fire! Fire!
Let's go! Follow him!
You won't fail now.
Bravo, Sir! You got him!
He's dead, Sir! You killed him!
I doubt it. It's not the first time he's been hit.
It's as if that filthy bird boy had more than one life.
Rubbish is alive.
It is born from us, it grows and it reproduces.
Slowly but surely, rubbish will end up taking over the whole island.
Well, what do we have here?
This is almost new!
You see? You have to look carefully.
Uncle Klaus will pay good money for this.
Come on, let's go.
We've got enough for today.
I can't. My feet hurt.
I can't go on.
I want my Mummy.
You know Mummy's very proud of you? A little bird told me.
She's looking down from heaven and making sure we're alright.
You're a real man now, champ. - Hey!
What are you doing here?
This is our zone!
What do you mean?
Yes! What's going on?
- Hey? Hey? - I'm scared.
Danger, danger.
What are you looking at? What are you looking at me for?
Don't you look at me! Don't look at me!
- What? - What?
Don't come any closer!
You don't come any closer!
Look! Juiceberries!
Delicious blueberry juiceberries!
Mmmm! I can't resist.
That grease ball isn't your friend.
He only gets in the way and you know it.
- Get him. - Push him over.
Push him over. - Nobody will ever know.
Sandra...
Sandra.
Sandra!
What are you doing? Ha, ha, ha!
You're so sweet, Sandra. I love you too.
Don't you want to try the juiceberries? They're delicious.
You'll never get rid of us.
We'll always be with you.
Always.
No, thanks, Birdboy. I don't need you to feed me any more.
Thanks to your care I've been able to see this paradise I thought I'd never see again.
You've been so good to us all.
But you can't go on living here, on your own.
You have to get well, get cured and expunge that demon.
Think about the people who care for you.
You want to look after everyone but
who's going to look after you?
Goodbye, Birdboy.
[FATHER]
Hi. My name's Dinky. Who are you?
You don't talk much, do you?
Come on! Come to the water!
Don't smoke it all.
Hey, don't you think you're overdoing it?
Not like that.
When you learn to fly, will you take me with you?
What's happening to you?
You should come to the beach more often. You look sick.
Birdboy! Birdboy!
I'd like to help you, but I don't know how.
[CAUTION INDUSTRIAL ZONE]
Copper... Pretty copper. - Sir!
Excuse me, Sir. Can you help us?
We're lost.
Lost, you say? Ha, ha, ha! Yes! Lost...
Who isn't lost, eh?
Who isn't?
We're all lost on this island within the island
and every one of us has to find his own way.
But it's easy to get lost here, yes.
The dump is constantly changing.
There's more and more rubbish with every passing day.
Can you smell that? Can you smell it?
Yes, of course we smell it.
It's the smell of money.
Where you just see waste
I see treasure!
For example: this broken radio.
Society throws it away thinking it's no use any more, but I know how to look inside it.
You see? I look for the beautiful copper.
Then I exchange it for coins. And I exchange the coins for food
and I exchange the food for copper! Ha, ha, ha!
But it wasn't always like that.
I... I used to have a life. A life and two hands.
I had dreams, far from here,
but I threw my life away in this dump and things didn't work out the way I expected.
Nothing ever turns out the way you expect.
Sure, I'm missing a hand, but who cares? I've still got the other.
They cut it off for stealing; it's the law.
The law of the dump.
Things aren't so bad here. Everything's ok as long there's some copper.
You got a cigarette?
Do you know where Hangar 27 is? We're trying to get there. We need to go there.
Hangar 27? Sure, sure. Come on, let's go!
Come with me; time is copper.
And throw away that stupid map. It's no use around here.
Hangar 27! Here it is.
Are you not coming in?
No, no, thanks. You go in.
You wouldn't have any money, would you?
Give me some money. You owe me some. I helped you! You owe it to me!
I helped you!
Nothing is free round here! Give me my money!
You owe it to me!
Thank you, Little Fox.
Don't tell my brother you saw me round here,
or like this.
Please... Please...
You idiot! You gave him a load of money!
His brother? I don't understand.
Yes. That's Little White Mouse's brother.
But wasn't he the one who went to the city and was doing so well?
Hello?
Good afternoon. Are you Uncle Klaus?
It depends who's asking.
We've come to buy.
To buy, eh? Then you've come to the right place.
Uncle Klaus deals in all sorts of contraband:
guns, jewels, drugs, organs for transplant... all top quality.
Uncle Klaus, we only want a boat.
A boat.
You know, to get away from here.
I see. Come with me.
I'll show you what I've got in my catalogue.
The Shark!
Powerful inboard motor, lightweight, anti-police radar, silent
and packed with features that make it every smuggler's dream.
Only 14,000 coins!
Now that's definitely the one for you, but for a little more I have...
The Dolphin!
Sorry, Uncle Klaus, but we were thinking of something a bit more modest.
Let's see. How much are we talking exactly?
Well... less than 1000 coins.
Oh, impossible! I've nothing for that little money.
Please, Uncle Klaus.
Well, hold on.
I could make an exception just for you.
I've taken pity on you. I should have got away when I was your age.
For that amount, all I can offer you is this:
The Inflatable Duck!
It's made of a highly durable, pollutant substance called PVC.
It's not bad as far as it goes.
Let's just say it floats quite proudly.
And well, it talks too.
Hi, kids. Hi!
If you get sick of its squawking, what I do it tie up its beak.
Take me with you! Get me out of here, please!
This place is hell.
I remember when I used to live with my mother and my brothers on the PVC lake.
We were happy there. We swam around
and ate loads of inflatable fish. - Eat me!
Everything was wonderful and unreal, like a stage scenery.
But one day they came and caught me.
They took me away from my family and they treated me cruelly.
They let out my air and put me in that horrible dry cardboard box.
Can you imagine?
I've had to grow up in that filthy dark box.
Please, I can't go on living in there
alone and forsaken.
Oh, the poor thing!
Can we keep him? He's really pretty! Come on, what do you say?
He's perfect.
Of course he's perfect. Come on, hand over those coins.
But do you think he'll make it to the city? He looks a bit fragile.
Are you calling me a conman?
I don't just sell any old thing!
I have a reputation, you know!
But whatever you want. If you want to go on rotting here for ever
that's your problem. I'll see you back here when you're a bit older.
Remember I'll buy any copper you can find.
Don't worry, son, whatever you do, I'll always be proud of you.
Now!
Get them! Don't let them get away!
Well, well, well... What have we here?
Intruders! They've come to rob us!
- Let's cut off their hands! - Yes! Yes!
No, no. We were only passing through.
Silence! What do you think?
You come here, to our dump, to steal our treasures!
They came for our copper!
Yes! Our valuable copper! Thieves! Thieves!
You're mad! Even the police don't come here!
Hand over everything you have!
Let go! Let go!
This is for me.
Leave her alone!
You just keep still!
- Nothing, there's nothing here. - They've got a piggy bank, empty.
Search them carefully. They're bound to have something.
What's this supposed to be?
It's the inflatable duck! Please don't harm it.
Wait!
It's probably worth something. We'll sell it and buy some glue.
Glue! The elixir of life.
What shall we do with them? Shall we skin them? Their flesh will be nice.
No! The law comes first! Take the girls to the village and as for the boy...
Torture him mercilessly! Cause him as much pain as possible!
We have our own law.
Our law is necessary.
[HOME SWEET HOME] Our law will be for everyone
and whoever is guilty shall pay with their blood.
Come on, walk!
Cut off their hands!
Kill them! Kill them all!
Thieves! Thieves!
Burn them! Burn them!
- Disembowel them! - Rip out their guts!
Oh, beloved leader,
we come to you to hold this show trial.
We found these little thieves poking around in our territory.
Tell us what we should do with them.
So you were thieving, thieving in our dump. Or are you perhaps...
police?
We only we want to get off the island, that's all.
Please, let us go.
We don't know anything. We don't know who you are.
You don't know who we are?
You don't know who we are?!
We are the forgotten children!
We have neither father nor mother! In the garbage we seek our future!
The future has already passed!
Rubbish is the present! Blood is our law!
You, on the other hand, are nothing.
You are just meat.
Meat without a soul.
You live on your island, in your cardboard world,
away from all the rubbish and the pain.
We feed off your rubbish
and your pain.
Make a clean cut! Sharpen the knife well!
Yes! Yes!
And let them bleed! Let them bleed till they faint
so we can feed off their pain!
Who dares interrupt our trial?
Let us defend our rubbish!
Do away with him!
Get out of here, you revolting beast!
This is our dump!
We are the forgotten children, we have neither father nor mother...
Die!
Dinky, Dinky.
Wake up, Dinky.
Are you ok?
Let's go. We have to get out of here.
Yes. Let's go before that awful monster gets back.
No.
Dinky, we have to go.
No!
Dinky!
Leave her.
Birdboy! Birdboy!
Birdboy!
Birdboy...
Don't worry, don't worry.
Relax.
You have to leave.
Come with me, Birdboy.
Please.
It's very late.
Fly away with us.
We'll start a new life far from here.
You can guide us.
You've always known how to fly.
Let's go. Come on.
I love you!
Welcome on board!
Don't worry, it's just a passing shower.
Hold tight!
Watch out!
Bravo, lad!
You're a real cop now.
Save yourself. Forget about Dinky. She wouldn't do it for you.
Hey! Hey! Over here!
Help! Help!
Birdboy...
My God! Where the hell have you been?
Just look at you! You're drenched and freezing!
Jonathan told us you didn't go to school again today.
We were really worried about you, Dinky.
What's wrong with you, honey? Why won't you tell us?
We break our backs for you and look how you pay us back!
This is intolerable!
At least we'll always have Jonathan.
Little Johnny's always the best!
Dear Diary,
I wasn't planning on writing again.
I was so sure I'd be leaving all this behind
but things didn't work out the way I'd planned.
Nothing ever turns out the way you expect.
What would it be like to live far away from this prison?
I have the feeling I'll never manage to escape.
I should just accept it. I shouldn't fight.
Never again.
Maybe this is my place
forever.
Birdboy?
"Birdboy: The Forgotten Children"
Written and Directed by
Based on the graphic novel "Psiconautas" by Alberto Vázquez
Produced by
Co-produced by
Executive producers
Executive co-producers
Associate producers
Original music
Additional music
Editing
Sound editing and mixing
Animation director
Production manager
Art direction and storyboard