by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea is to take a look at some underseen gems—so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
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We’re staying on the European continent again this month.
Fantastic Planet is the work of René Laloux and was a Palme d’Or nominee at 1973’s Cannes Film Festival. The story follows a young boy who grows up living among blue giants, who rule over the humans there with an iron fist. Given the subject matter, it is perhaps a bit ironic that the film itself took six years to produce because of censorship. A joint French and Czechoslovakian production, initially beset by a funding delay, the production was halted “when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia and put all artistic projects under scrutiny to ‘allegorical content.’” Which certainly gives you a lot to think about.
However, for me, this is much more a vibes movie, and it is weird with a capital “W.”
Visually, the film is gorgeous and striking. The style is not unlike the Hungarian shorts I spoke of earlier in this series. The trippy nature also reminded me of an Italian production I’d covered earlier as well. It feels like when I’m covering something from this time period, filmmakers are always trying things, and the projects have an avant-garde feel. While these types of projects are never going to be among my particular favorites in the series, they’re always interesting—and that’s not nothing.
The art style feels like a children’s book come to life—but don’t let that fool you. It’s very adult in how it goes about its business, whether that be through violence or nudity. TCM explains the unique style thusly, “The filmmakers turned to stop-motion process with cut-out figures drawn on paper and manipulated against flat backgrounds, with soft colors on paper rather than ink and paint on cels, and pen-and-ink cross-hatching to give the figures a suggestion of depth and contour, like a book illustration in motion. It gives the film an alien beauty that decades later is still unique in animated cinema. It’s oddly static but the weird, lush landscapes, pastel color palette, and bizarre imagery create a fantastical world of both wonder and terror, which Laloux presents from an eerie remove.” While that rotoscope style can lead to jerkier movement than you might be used to seeing in similar American productions at the time, it just becomes a part of the tapestry of the film as things progress.
Given the oddity of the rest of the film, it needs a score to match, and Alain Goraguer is up for the challenge. Whether it needs to evoke terror, whimsy or weirdness, he provides the perfect audio backdrop.
Overall, Fantastic Planet is one I respect more than enjoy, but it’s easy to see why it has such a titanic reputation. Though it’s not asking too much of your time, it’s definitely a film you need to be in the right headspace to appreciate.
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I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. Next month, while I haven’t figured out what I’m watching quite yet, I can pretty much guarantee it’ll be more conventional than this.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd