2022, 108 minutes
Directed by Mike Cheslik
A drunken applejack salesman must fight hundreds of beavers to save his orchards and brewery plus find love in this new cult comedy that has been compared to Looney Toons and silent slapstick cinema in a loving way. Of course the beavers are really actors in giant mascot costumes - the movie is not trying to hide that but lean into it - along with thousands of effects shots, puppetry, miniatures and props used to amazing comedic effect that must be seen with a live audience to truly go nuts with. Made in Wisconsin over two very cold winters for $150.000 by two high school buddies, it doesn't get more indie than this.
"A singular live-action cartoon of inspired slapstick....Itself a sort of vast homage to comedy traditions past, “Hundreds of Beavers” will certainly recall for many viewers the Road Runner v. Coyote saga, as well as pre-talkie knockabout humor, frontier parody “Cannibal: The Musical,” pioneering screen fantasists Georges Melies and Karel Zeman, and so on. On paper, it would hardly be expected to remain funny for eight minutes, let alone 108. But this ingeniously home-made lark never runs out of steam." - Dennis Harvey, Variety