History WesternAnimation / MaryAndMax

-->--'''Ethel Mumford (quote at the end of the film)'''

* AnachronismStew

* {{Narrator}}: The film is narrated by Barry Humphries.

[[caption-width-right:325:Sometimes perfect strangers make the best friends.]]

* BigEater: Max, although it only contributes to his obesity.

Set in the 1970-90s, ''Mary and Max'' tells the story of a friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary Daisy Dinkle (Bethany Whitmore for young Mary, Creator/ToniCollette for older Mary), a lonely 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and Max Jerry Horowitz (Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman), an obese 44-year old man with UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome living in New York City. The movie follows the story of their life and friendship over the course of Mary's childhood and adulthood. What appears to start out as a solely [[BlackComedy blackly humourous story]] soon turns into something quite dark and [[TearJerker often very depressing]], dealing with everything from [[AbusiveParents parental neglect]], to insecurity, to bullying, to suicide.

** "A Swingin' Safari", a jaunty instrumental tune, by Bert Kaempfert plays during the credits after [[spoiler:a rather somber BittersweetEnding where Max is found dead by Mary when she finally visits him]].

* SoundtrackDissonance: Que Sera Sera, covered by Portland based . You will ''never'' hear the song in the same way.

* DitzyGenius: Max, to a T. He's capable of speed-reading two pages at once, has an amateur but clearly sophisticated understanding of mathematics and physics, and is generally a very skilled autodidact. However, because of his poor social skills and other quirks, people (especially Dr. Bernard Hazelhof) tend to assume he's stupid. [[This includes the use of an *extremely* unflattering word in a local newspaper article about his institutionalization.]] Most clearly demonstrated when Mary asks him for advice about love. Max wishes she'd asked about ''chaos theory'' instead.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Marjorie Butterworth to Max. Max assumes this is because he doesn't understand love or courtship; he doesn't appear to grasp that he's actually being ''sexually harrassed''.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Marjorie Butterworth to Max. Max assumes this is because he doesn't understand love or courtship; he doesn't appear to grasp that he's actually being *sexually harrassed*.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Marjorie Butterworth to Max, though [[spoiler: largely because he seems to be asexual]].

* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: [[spoiler:Mary and her baby arrive to visit Max just after he's died.]]

* MoodDissonance: "Que sera, sera".

* {{Nerd}}: Max and, arguably, Mary too.
* NerdGlasses: Mary has them.

* ItsAllJunk: After her DespairEventHorizon, Mary has her book pulped, even though it made her a famous psychologist.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Mary's years of kindness towards Len, her disabled neighbor with a fear of going outside, pays off just in time. Len makes sure Mary's package from Max gets to her by actually going outside at her door, just like how she would get him his mail as a kid. This act alone stops Mary from her committing suicide and her unborn child.

** ''The Nobblets'' seem to be a parody of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs''

** [[spoiler:Mary. Almost.]]

* ObliviousToLove: Max.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Que Sera Sera. You will ''never'' hear the song in the same way.

Set in the 1970-90s, ''Mary and Max'' tells the story of a friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary Daisy Dinkle (Creator/ToniCollette), a lonely 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and Max Jerry Horowitz (Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman), an obese 44-year old man with UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome living in New York City. The movie follows the story of their life and friendship over the course of Mary's childhood and adulthood. What appears to start out as a solely [[BlackComedy blackly humourous story]] soon turns into something quite dark and [[TearJerker often very depressing]], dealing with everything from [[AbusiveParents parental neglect]], to insecurity, to bullying, to suicide.

Set in the 1970-90s, and ''supposedly'' VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, ''Mary and Max'' tells the story of a friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary Daisy Dinkle (Creator/ToniCollette), a lonely 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and Max Jerry Horowitz (Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman), an obese 44-year old man with UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome living in New York City. The movie follows the story of their life and friendship over the course of Mary's childhood and adulthood. What appears to start out as a solely [[BlackComedy blackly humourous story]] soon turns into something quite dark and [[TearJerker often very depressing]], dealing with everything from [[AbusiveParents parental neglect]], to insecurity, to bullying, to suicide.

* BlackComedy: When it isn't being depressing, it has quite a few laughs.

* CannotTellAJoke: Max

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Apart from the director's 20-year friendship with the source for the Max character, [[spoiler:(who was ''still'' alive at the time of the film's release and still is)]], it's all fiction.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Max's "Mime and the Air Conditioner" manslaughter charge. In real life, Max most likely wouldn't have been in any legal trouble as the [=AC=] fell out due to construction issues and zero fault of his own. If anything, the building managers would have been more likely to be charged than Max.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Max's "Mime and the Air Conditioner" manslaughter charge. In real life, Max wouldn't have been in any legal trouble because [=AC=] fell out (and onto the mime) because of construction issues, so, if anything, the building managers would have been more held more liable than Max would be.

Mary and Max is a 2009 Australian [[StopMotion clay-animated]] {{Black|Comedy}} [[{{Dramedy}} Comedy-Drama]] written and directed by Adam Elliot, the Oscar winning director of the short film ''WesternAnimation/HarvieKrumpet''.

* AccidentalSuicide: [[spoiler:Vera, who is depressed about her husband's death, [[DrowningMySorrows grabs what she thinks is some Sherry wine]]. It is actually [[IAteWhat embalming fluid]], and she dies shortly afterwards.]]