# The Unsettling Aesthetics Behind 'Buddy' Reveal Darker Undercurrents in Children's Media
Production designer Anna Kathleen constructed deliberately dystopian visual worlds for the film "Buddy," layering fascistic imagery into spaces populated by talking trains and surreal puppet characters. Her design choices transform what appears as whimsical children's entertainment into something far more philosophically complex and politically charged.
The film's neon-soaked environments serve a specific purpose beyond mere aesthetic appeal. Kathleen engineered multiple worlds to accommodate the narrative movement of a giant orange unicorn, but each space carries visual language borrowed from authoritarian architecture and propaganda design. The decision to infuse children's media with these elements represents a deliberate artistic statement about the pervasiveness of power structures in everyday life, even in worlds designed for young audiences.
Fascistic imagery permeates spaces that should feel innocent. Authoritarian symbols appear in unexpected places. The talking trains, which might ordinarily suggest whimsy and childhood nostalgia, instead move through environments that echo totalitarian aesthetic choices. Deranged puppets inhabit these zones, their visual strangeness compounded by architectural surroundings that feel unsettling rather than comforting.
Kathleen's approach reflects broader conversations within contemporary cinema about how design communicates ideology. Production designers increasingly recognize that aesthetic choices are never neutral. A room's geometry, a color palette, the way light falls across a surface, all convey messages about power, control, and social organization. By embedding fascistic visual language into "Buddy," Kathleen forces viewers to confront how authoritarian aesthetics have infiltrated popular culture and children's media specifically.
The multiple worlds Kathleen designed required solving practical problems while maintaining thematic coherence. Each environment needed to accommodate a large orange unicorn character while remaining visually distinct. Rather than treating this as a constraint, she leveraged scale and spatial design to emphasize themes of disruption. The unicorn's physical presence in these carefully ordered, authoritarian-influenced spaces becomes itself a form of chaos, a challenge to the visual order Kathleen established.
This approach reflects increasing sophistication in how filmmakers address younger audiences. Rather than assuming children's entertainment must remain visually and thematically simple, "Buddy" suggests contemporary creators trust viewers to process complex visual language even without explicit verbal explanation. The imagery works on multiple levels. Children respond to color and character movement, while older viewers decode the propaganda aesthetics and recognize fascistic imagery.
IndieWire's interview with Kathleen provides rare insight into how production design functions as storytelling. Design choices become narrative choices. Architecture becomes character. The neon worlds become active participants in the film's commentary on systems of control and conformity.
The film represents a particular moment in children's media where creatives increasingly weave adult themes and complex visual language into content aimed at younger audiences. "Buddy" refuses to sanitize its worlds or shy away from darker aesthetic implications. Instead, it embraces contradiction. Talking trains and deranged puppets coexist with visual language historically associated with oppression.
This strategy challenges assumptions about what children's entertainment should look like and what messages it can carry. Kathleen's production design proves that whimsy and darkness are not mutually exclusive. They can coexist, creating something genuinely new and unsettling.