Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:54 am Posts: 1935 Location: Virginia
Now this is a weird one. Not weird in the sense that it's a bad movie, mind you, but it's truly a strange sight to behold. It's as if you hit the bottle a little hard, and woke up in your son's toy box in your underwear; A Town Called Panic is a French movie both adults and children will enjoy, and that's part of the magic of it. This movie doesn't appeal in the sense where adult humor that will fly over your child's precious head is sprinkled in, but it is just so quirky that it's hard to ignore or hate its charm.
Arbitrary Wikipedia Background
A Town Called Panic was originally a 2000 television series that was distributed by Aardman, and created by Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier. Each episode was roughly 5 minutes long, and were usually aired in a block. Channels such as the Nicktoon Network in America or Teletoon in Canada air this series, and it can still be seen floating around today. Then, in 2009, a feature-length spinoff was born and shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France! Guess which one of these we're talking about!
Presentation
Presentation is perhaps the best place to start reviewing A Town Called Panic because it has a very unique feel. You're probably wondering "What is it about? Why should I watch A Town Called Panic when it looks like it's just a French Robot Chicken ripoff?" Well first off, one can make the assumption that, given the animation style of stop-motion with toys, it will be similar to Robot Chicken. This is where the similarities end, and even then, most of the 'cast' consists of little plastic toys that are reminiscent of the toy soldiers in the Toy Story series. The stop-motion is not done in the same vein as, say, Wallace and Gromit. However, this doesn't mean that the director and animators didn't put in any effort; to the contrary, it was a very well animated movie despite the fact that the "actors" were small, plastic toys. For example:
Hopefully, the trailer can clarify that the characters don't just move as if it were a movie made by your 2-year old flailing around toys while adding a funny voice, but the toys are manipulated via animation to create a pretty neat experience. There is only so much I can go on about this, but Aubier and Patar, the two creators of the film, really did a good job making a strange, surreal world that is never boring to look at.
But what use is a pretty film if it doesn't have a plot? Hmmmmmmmm...... COUGHTIMBURTONFILMSCOUGH.... Not much. So now let's go into what this crazy acid trip is all about.
Story and Characters
Our story centers around three room mates, Horse, Cowboy, and Indian. Their relationship is somewhat like two Laurels and a Hardy, or one Abbot and two Costellos.
Horse
Horse is the straight man, the most responsible of the three who cleans up Indian and Cowboy's mistakes. He is also in love with Madame Longree, a music teacher who happens to be the other talking horse in the town.
Cowboy and Indian
The two goofballs of the movie, Indian and Cowboy often have hairbrained schemes that lack any forethought, and thus lead to crazy, disastrous things to happen. Ironically, they set the plot of A Town Called Panic in motion when they accidentally order several million bricks in an attempt to make Horse a BBQ for his birthday.
Madame Longree
The token love interest, Madame Longree is a music teacher in the town who also happens to be a talking horse. To win her affection, Horse signs up for lessons in her class but when everything starts to go crazy, he desperately tries to get there on time and win her heart.
There are other minor characters, but they do not play a significant role in the plot so I won't go over them in much detail. However, what we need to go over is the plot. It is Horse's birthday, and Indian and Cowboy decide that the best present to make for him is his own brick BBQ. However, things start to take a turn for the worse when they accidentally order 50 million bricks, and it ends up destroying the house! In the course of rebuilding the house, Horse, Indian, and Cowboy soon notice that thieves keep stealing their walls, so they soon go on a crazy journey to the center of the Earth, the north pole, and the bottom of the ocean to get their home back!
I know, when hearing this story it's like you are going to drop acid while watching A Town Called Panic for it to make any hair of sense, but hear me out. Despite the crazy situations that Horse, Indian, and Cowboy find themselves in, the story, in its own way, makes sense from start to end. When I said this can be a film enjoyed by both adults and children, I mean that it is colorful and cartoony enough for kids, but is not dumbed down and can be enjoyed by parents. The humor is the shining moment of A Town Called Panic, and it is really refreshing to see something slapstick and nonsensical instead of the usual romantic comedy or toilet humor-ridden piece of tripe. The only thing that English speakers will have to be cautious about is the fact A Town Called Panic is in French, but that shouldn't be that much of a turnoff for those who don't mind something called - GASP - reading!
Some people don't mind if they are less literate than a horse.
Now one thing I will complain about is the frantic pace A Town Called Panic has. Even though there is some humor that adults appreciate, this is largely a kid's film so the pacing has to be fast enough to keep our current ADD-riddled population entertained for the 70 minute running time. If you don't really pay attention for even a second, you won't have any idea what is going on. Really, when we have a birthday, the destruction of a house, a journey to the center of the earth, a voyage to the north pole, our heroes being kidnapped by mad scientists in a giant metal penguin, a journey to the bottom of the sea, AND a climax crammed into only little over an hour of film, you need to have a breakneck pace to mash it all in there. It isn't so much of an issue if you can actually pay attention, but it can at times be overwhelming.
Sound
The soundtrack and music wasn't terribly memorable, but this is because it was more used for comical effect, emphasizing the off-beat humor of the film. This isn't a bad thing because deep, memorable music may have actually distracted a little from what is going on in the story. The voice acting was very enjoyable because the French voice actors added to the zaniness and humor that A Town Called Panic has to offer. If it were in any other language, I really don't think it would have been as effective. This means an English version would probably suck. Maybe it has something to do with hearing foreign accents that makes the French voice acting funnier, but I think it is truly the only way to appreciate A Town Called Panic.
Because this inspires laughs.
Verdict
A Town Called Panic is an overall entertaining little French film that, despite being slightly ADD, is very cute, humorous, and perfect as a family film. Seriously, stop buying bullshit like Spongebob Squarepants or stuff found on Cartoon Network for your children and make them watch a genuinely good film that doesn't patronize them into a stupid coma. This is also good for adults because it has humor they will appreciate, so parents and children can both enjoy A Town Called Panic! It reminds me of older cartoons that used to air like Rocko's Modern Life because those also tried to be for grownups, slipping in subtle humor that would fly over the kiddie's heads so parents could still have a good time while letting their kids watch cartoons they could like. While some of the jokes may not be as sexually charged as Rocko's Modern Life, that doesn't matter because A Town Called Panic is still a very quirky film that is a hilariously roarin' good time! I highly recommend it!
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. After this birthday weekend (I AM NOW 21!), I'll write it up!
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