“Life finds a way” Dr. Ian Malcolm (a.k.a. Jeff Goldblum) famously said in Jurassic Park. He was talking about sterilized dinosaurs, but it applies to post-apocalyptic dandelions as well. They might be one man’s weeds, or another man’s flowers, but four intrepid seed-bearing pappi will travel the universe in search of a safe place to put down roots in Tokyo-born, French-based filmmaker Momoko Seto’s Dandelion’s Odyssey, which screens as the opening night film of L’Alliance New York’s 2026 Animation First festival.
Gardeners will tell you dandelions are resilient. Evidently, they were right. Thanks to mankind’s folly, fire engulfs the Earth. Yet, somehow, four fuzzy white pappi (sometimes popularly referred to as “dandelion clocks”) manage to ride a solar wind off our dying planet, into the outer galaxy, in search of an inhabitable new home.
Eventually, they land on a frozen world, just in time for its re-awakening. Indeed, life seems to be finding a way. However, with life comes danger, both in terms of the flora and fauna. Nevertheless, the four dandelion pappi work together, helping each other escape sticky situations, as they drift further along, in search of fertile ground to plant themselves.
Seto and her collaborating co-writers, Alain Layrac and Mariette Desert, nicely differentiate the quartet of dandelion clocks, even though they never endow the seed-bearers with happy smiling humanized faces. One is a little droopy and another is a bit off-balance, due to an oversized, non-symmetrical seed-pod. However, the skinny pappus with only a handful of seedlings remaining clearly exhibits the greatest resourcefulness, often saving his companions, even including their bold, ostensive leader. 
For the record, the scraggly, balding one is apparently called Leonto, but there is no way to pick up their names from watching the film. Being vegetation, none of the four talks, per se, but they emit audible vibrations, careful devised by sound designer Nicolas Becker (who won an Oscar for his work on Sound of Metal).
Nevertheless, many viewers might struggle to get their heads around Dandelion’s Odyssey, because its central “characters” aren’t even plants—they are spores. Yet, Seto’s animation has the power to hypnotize viewers, if they give it a fair chance. This is not the sort of film to watch on your smart phone during the morning commute, unlike the average Netflix movie that reportedly restates its premise through dialogue four or five times. In fact, Seo’s film is entirely wordless. That is why it is best seen in a dark theater, without the distraction of texts and emails.
Yes, your attention will be required, but Dandelion’s Odyssey demonstrates refreshing ambition, operating on both cosmic and almost microscopic levels. It almost serves as a creation fable for evolutionary botanists and biologists. The credits list an extensive honor roll of scientific advisors, but Seto’s dandelion pappi still connect with viewers on a personal level, without any significant degree of anthropomorphosis, which is quite a neat trick.
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Regardless, the animation reflects an exceptional degree of artistry and attention to detail. Seto also employs photo-realistic effects and even real-life time-lapse nature photography to heighten the accuracy. She maintains a clear narrative thread, but the term “meditative” still aptly describes the vibe. Arguably, Dandelion’s Odyssey should appeal to fans of Jacques Perrin’s nature documentaries, especially the unlikely box office hits Microcosmos and Winged Migration.
Despite the animation’s rich details and granular textures, Dandelion’s Odyssey represents a bold choice for the opening night film of this year’s Animation First. Many potential viewers might struggle to relate to it as animation, due to the lack of jokes, but that would be their loss. Seto fully immerses the audience in a visually arresting world of spores and insects. It is absolutely something completely different, which is a good thing. Highly recommended for adults and children who can sit still and concentrate for 76 minutes, Dandelion’s Odyssey opens the 2026 Animation First this Tuesday night (2/3).
Grade: A
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Here’s the trailer of the film.