Brightest Young Things

A Town Called Panic feels like the fever-dream of a creative kid who loves playing with action figures. Like Wes Anderson in Fantastic Mr. Fox , Belgian co-directors Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier use stop-motion animation to create a world of talking animals and enterprising farmers. Whereas the Anderson's work features close detail and universal appeal, the work of Patar and Aubier is coarase and will probably only appeal to the youngest kids. I know this is by design - Patar and Aubier aren't in competition for the best art-house animated feature, and the motion of their scenes are deliberately stilted. Still, their style will prevent audiences from embracing the manic tone, so some attempts at humor annoy when they should amuse.

The plot, such as it is, is a little weird. Horse lives in a house with roommates Cowboy and Indian. I'm not entirely clear how they pass the time, but it seems like a pleasant enough existence. Animals and people are equals in the village. Simon, for example, helps run a music school with equine teacher Mrs. Longray. It's only natural Horse has affection for Mrs. Longray, yet even after becoming her pupil, he can't attend any lessons. Through dumb luck, Cowboy and Indian ordered 50,000,000 bricks online when they intended to order 50, and all the extra building material pushes Horse's house into the ground. Gerard the sea creature lives on the other side of Horse's house, so when all these bricks unexpectedly arrive, he retaliates by sabotaging the rebuilding effort. Horse, Cowboy, and Indian are understandably vexed. Soon it's an all-out war with the sea world and whichever one the protagonists occupy.

Given the preceding paragraph, I'm sure you'll agree story is at best a tertiary concern for the directors. It's better, then, to focus other aspects of their effort. The animation is jerky. There is little fluidity to the movement, so characters move in a manner similar to children playing with toys. Such a visual style appropriately matches the voice acting and character design. Cowboy and Indian, for example, are essentially action figures, and they speak with a boisterous tone that, again, mimics child's play. No mouths move when characters speak, which gives them an intimate quality that distances audiences from the action. Some effects, such as the use of cotton and water, are playful and creative. And there is enough variety in the scenery* to maintain attention through the movie's lean running time.For the most part, however, the visual style is jarring and leaves little warmth toward the characters or story.

Coupled with subtitles and some naughty words, I doubt parents will be eager to bring their children to E Street. A Town Called Panic doesn't engage adults, so I guess only French-speaking youngsters will give it a warm reception.

* As if you need further convincing to not see this movie, there is a sequence where the heroes are stuck in a snowy wilderness. Ugh. Snowball fights are SO last week.