Louis & Luca and the Snow Machine

Rasmus A. Sivertsen's 2013 Norwegian animation is set in the Flåklypa world created by Kjell Aukrust and was made in stop motion. A winter without snow pushes the town inventor Reodor Felgen to build a snow machine; the machine works, and works more than expected. The film's appeal is in its technique: handmade sets, cloth-covered figures and a workshop full of mechanical detail. The story is kept plain for children, with no villain, only an invention out of control and the effort to fix it. It is an entry in one of Norway's best-loved animation series, and some of its local cultural references do not reach a viewer from outside. Who it's for: families who like stop motion animation and young children. Who it's not for: adults wanting a complex story, or viewers who find unhurried films dull.