Andalón suggests one solution.
Seven- year- old Dolores persuades her friends to enter a prohibited area by a cornfield. Initially they refuse to follow but eventually they do and as dark clouds fill the sky, the fire demon sets fire to the field and the three friends try to flee. In the rush, Dolores falls into a large black hole and finds herself in an ancient shaft grave with some sinister skeletal corn-husk witches. A little ceramic toy that has a life of its own wakes her and eventually turns into an armadillo that tries to protect her, but can she be saved?
The story was inspired by what are known as Tumbas de tiro, pre-Hispanic tombs discovered in western Mexico that are like a deep shaft, and it is into one of these grave shafts, that Dolores tumbles. Armadillos are associated with death, being an animal that digs burrows into the ground, in darkness and protected by its wonderful armoured shell.
As with many animators who are fascinated by stop- motion film making, Andalón credits Czech surrealistic artist and animator Jan Svankmajer as a major influence. He may be retired at 92 but his influence in the world of animation knows no boundaries.
'Dolores' has now been selected to appear at 80 festivals worldwide, having premiered at the 39th Guadalajara International Film Festival. It is significant in that the film appeals to all ages, not only children, as it was invited to participate in Screamfest, Mexico’s Mórbido Fest and Sitges, to name a few. It won ‘Best Animated Short’ at the Taxco Film Fest and was nominated for ‘Best Animated Short Film’ at the 2025 Ariel Awards in Mexico).
The film was shot at El Taller del Chucho in Guadalajara, famous for having been the stop-motion studio that shot Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’(2022), which happens to stands in an area known to have many shaft tombs, so there may well be some lurking beneath the studio stages.
With charming stop- frame photography and beautifully animated models, designed according to Mexican culture and arts, this film takes us into a dark world of childhood fears, tinged with horror and the stuff of nightmares.
What happens if you defy a no- entry sign?
The character models are handcrafted using natural materials, and the fire demon that chases Dolores and her two friends María and Cristina in the cornfield, is itself made of corn husks. The artists and modellers used over 500 pieces to create the landscaped cornfields alone. The long list of credits attests to the hard work this technique requires. This is due to the intricacy of creating all the models, the sets, and the engineered robotic parts to create the movement. Each part and character has to be moved into position before being photographed, frame by frame. It is hugely time-consuming and demands absolute precision, for one error could mean whole scenes have to be reshot. No surprise that the 9- minutes of film took two years to make!
Cecilia Andalón Delgadillo was born in Guadalajara in 1990. She studied Visual Arts at the university of Guadalajara and her interest in animation shone through early, as her thesis was on exploring stop-motion shorts carried out in Jalisco.
Writer / director Cecilia Andalón Delgadillo
She went on to work in the art department on various animated projects, namely ‘Pinocchio’ (2022) by Guillermo del Torto, ‘Inzomnia’ by Luis Tellez, and ‘La Casa de la Memoria’ (House of Memories-2020) by Sofía Arreola to mention a few.
Despite being 9 minutes long, Andalón has created an effective nightmare world with the film suitably released on Oct 31st for Halloween.
DOLORES (2024) WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY CECILIA ANDALÓN DELGADILLO
Producer: Angélica Lares / Production coordinator: Aranza Engle/ Production Designer: Mario González/ Director of photography : Gilberto Torres / Art Director: Cecilia Andalón Delgadillo / Senior animator: Pablo Bedoilla and Nabí Orozco / Junior Animator: Damaris Cervantes Velasco/ 2D animation Erick Salamanca Garavito / Skeleton rigger and metal frames: Ulisses Cortés Oropeza Solorio / Puppet assessor: León Fernández/ Puppet Modeller: Nicol Lozaya / Armadillo Moulds: Sculpture Workshop El Pegote de Darío Serrano / Sets: Oscar Hernández López/
Voices cast:
Dolores: Emily Cecilia Echevarría Andalón/ María: Victoria Andalón/ Cristina: Carla Fernanda García Zuñiga /Momias: Karina Hurtado / Original Score: Enrique Vázquez Lozano and Enrique Luam Vázquez Rodríguez/ Graphic design: Claudia Andalón Delgadillo, Mario González, and Aníbal Becerra Vargas.
