I Am Frankelda

I Am Frankelda is Mexico’s first stop-motion animated feature film. Written, directed, and produced by Rodolfo and Arturo Ambriz, the Ambriz brothers are proteges of Guillermo del Toro and even dedicate the film to the Mexican filmmaker. The film is a Mexican production produced by Cartoon Network Latin America and Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Ambriz brothers did a miniseries consisting of five 12-minute episodes entitled Frankelda’s Book of Spooks, which I Am Frankelda is essentially an expansion of. The series looks like it features the same characters and cinematic realms that I Am Frankelda showcases, but is more focused on the stories Frankelda has written in her book. I Am Frankelda is the origin of both Francisca Imelda in the 1870s and a disintegrating nightmare realm where she is drawn to an owl boy named Herneval. Since Frankelda’s Book of Spooks can currently be found on HBO Max, it seems like I Am Frankelda will eventually be available there.

Francis’s imagination was troublesome for her as a child. She has always been writing, but her vivid imagination always resulted in her grandmother scolding her and encouraging her to do more feminine activities. The two realms were bridged from the beginning, with Francis’ writing being the common connection. She dreamed about the nightmare realm from a young age and wrote about it.

Herneval is a prince whose royal family rules over the nightmare realm. His father and mother, the king and queen, are kind and compassionate, while their empathy for others is often seen as a weakness. Their realm is falling apart because there hasn’t been a decent nightmare in years.

A giant green spider named Procustes is the royal nightmarer. He is in charge of writing horrific nightmares that would allow their realm to flourish. But Procustes hasn’t written anything in years. His time is spent trying to keep his job with mind games. Since he has had the royal nightmarer title for so long, he believes his writing abil...