A MONSTER IN PARIS

Publicity poster for A Monster In Paris (© Bibo Bergeron/EuropaCorp/Bibo Films/France 3 Cinéma/Walking the Dog/uFilm/uFund/Canal+/France Télévisions/CinéCinéma/Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique/Umedia/EuropaCorp Distribution - reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

As the main TV channels on the afternoon of 15 July 2018 were devoted to live sporting coverage (the F.A. Cup Final – something to do with football, I think... 😀), I chose instead to watch a quirky but very charming French animated movie (dubbed into English) from 2011 being shown on Channel 4, one that I'd heard of but never previously seen.

 

Entitled A Monster In Paris and directed by Bibo Bergeron (who had previously co-directed another memorable animated movie, Shark Tale, 2004), it was inspired (very) loosely by Gaston Leroux's classic gothic novel The Phantom of the Opera, was set in the French capital during the real 1910 Great Flood of Paris caused by an overflowing River Seine, and featured the (mis)adventures of a giant 7-ft-tall flea named Francoeur.

Francoeur was the result of a laboratory accident, yet in spite of his gargantuan size he was very benevolent and extremely musical, possessing not only a tuneful voice but also a Johnny B Goode-like ability to play a guitar like he was ringing a bell. Because of his immense physical stature, however, Francoeur was declared by the Parisian authorities to be a terrifying monster that needed to be destroyed, but he was energetically if not always successfully assisted in his attempts to evade what ultimately turned out to be the true monster of Paris – an unadulterated egomaniac of a police commissioner named Maynott, intent upon furthering his career at the expense of Francoeur's life - by a group of good-natured but perpetually squabbling humans.

These included a young female cabaret singer named Lucille (filling the young female opera singer role of Christine present in the original novel and the various subsequent stage musicals based upon it), voiced by Vanessa Paradis, and her accident-prone inventor lover Raoul, voiced by John Lennon's youngest son, Sean, plus a super-intelligent proboscis monkey named Charles, as well as a 50-ft-tall sunflower (not named anything...) - like I said earlier, this is definitely one decidedly quirky film!

 

Although technically an animated musical film, it was let down badly by a series of average to dreadful songs, but the 3-D animation, especially during said musical numbers, was wonderful. Indeed, in 2012 this movie won the César Award (France's equivalent to the American Academy Awards and Britain's BAFTAs) for Best Animated Film, and deservedly so.

A Monster In Paris is definitely a curiosity in the history of cartoon moviedom. However, it is well worth catching if, like me, you're heavily into animation. Certainly, I thoroughly enjoyed it (except for the songs!).

If you'd like to see for yourself what this magic movie is like, click here to view a delightful trailer.

And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE! 

An alternative publicity poster for A Monster In Paris (© Bibo Bergeron/EuropaCorp/Bibo Films/France 3 Cinéma/Walking the Dog/uFilm/uFund/Canal+/France Télévisions/CinéCinéma/Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique/Umedia/EuropaCorp Distribution - reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)