I feel the same way. I think the worst part about it is that despite every character repeatedly stating out loud the moral of the story, by the end I was totally unconvinced because the characters had done so little else. Halfway through I found myself hoping that it would end soon, but I knew based on the title alone that it would still be much longer because we hadn't even met the horse yet. The one positive was the art direction: now that I know it is based on a children's book I can definitely see that they did a good job matching that feel.

The Ice Merchants would be my top pick as well, I think it told a very intriguing story without saying even a single word. The art was beautiful, and the action felt cinematic. I loved that the ending was basically told through the colors of a pile of hats, truly a creative but touching end to that short story.