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I really enjoyed watching this movie. I went into the film thinking it was more for adults, but discovered it has a story that anyone and any age can enjoy, and that's always a sign of a great movie.

The movie is based on a children's book that I never herd of in which a Bear who's down on his luck befriends a mouse who's an artist at heart, beating all odds in a world where these two species are separated by fear and miscommunication.

I love the animation style which I'm guessing is greatly inspired by the children's book it's based on. I especially loved the design of the mouse, Celestine. Her animation was very cute and they did a good job of making her very mouse-like with her movement and attitude while still making her relatable to humans. This was added by the voice over talent by Mackenzie Foy.

I opted to watch the English dubbed version as I feel the authenticity of the dub matters less with animation. Some of you might disagree and I'm sure Lambert Wilson was great as Ernest, but hearing Forest Whitaker bring the poor reclusive bear whom Celestine befriends to life was a highlight.

If you need a movie to take your kids to see, you gotta pick this one. It's a film that will put a smile on all of your faces.

When we all think of animation and the journey it has walked through, naturally we all go to a big studio like Disney to offer up lots of the credit. Rightfully so, the studio paved the way for companies like Dreamworks and Sony Pictures to dip their feet into the animation arena. One of the quiet and brilliant studios that isn't on the lips of everyone yet is the impressive GKIDS. They made heads turn in the 2009- 2010 awards season when they pushed The Secret of Kells and managed a surprise nomination for Best Animated Feature. In 2011-2012, they pulled a one-two punch with Chico & Rita and A Cat in Paris, snagging nominations as well. For my money, they produced the best animated film of last year with Jean-François Laguionie's The Painting and found no wiggle room to get in over Brave and Wreck-It Ralph.

This year, the animation studio is at it again with their captivating French film Ernest & Celestine. Touching all the sweet parts of my cinematic heart, the Daniel Pennac written film tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a grumpy bear and a young mouse. Encompassing the powerful elements of honesty, truth, and acceptance, Pennac's screenplay, once again, fixates on the small details that bring our story full circle and unimaginably to life. It's one of the great surprises of the film year. Pennac is quickly becoming one of my favorite animated film writers working today.

One of the qualities that have made other animation studios so successful over the years is easy application of the child-like story that is being told, into the moment of the now and even the adult world. As life above ground includes Ernest, and a race of bears, they are the dominant power on the Earth. Down below, lives a race of mice, fending for survival, and only going to the world above to collect teeth in preparation to become dentists, which all rodents hold. Celestine lives in an orphanage, with a zeal and talent for drawing, she yearns for a world outside though stories are constantly told about the evil world of bears above. Ernest is down on his luck. When Celestine gets chased by a bear family after attempting to take one of the cubs' tooth, she hides in a trash can. When a hungry and desperate Ernest finds Celestine and tries to eat her, the two find an understanding and affection for one another that is both poetic and moving.

As we continue to live in a world that is dominated by the Pixar-3D mediums, that are only told in our native language, general audiences and industry people need to branch out their scope in the genre and discover these little diamonds that are found in the nooks and crannies of the movie world. Lambert Wilson voices the gentle bear Ernest, who you might remember from The Matrix Reloaded as The Merovingian or more recently from Of Gods and Men where he played the lead Christian. He plays particularly well off his co-star Pauline Brunner, who's innocent ticks and beats in her voice, shine brightly through the naïve and sweet Celestine.

The animation is simply stunning, reminiscing a storybook you would read to your youngest love, everything flows magically from page to screen, and inevitably into your heart. Directors Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, and Benjamin Renner know, with great confidence, what kind of story they want to be told. Inserting the humor at the appropriate times before hitting the right emotional chords with the viewer by film's end. A tender yet bombastic composition by musical composer Vincent Courtois is the film's secret weapon. Capturing the moment and executing the ambiance with absolute precision. I was completely smitten with everything about Ernest & Celestine.

By any means possible, seek out this French animated film from GKIDS. A sensational welcome to the animated genre that will be cherished for years. Ernest & Celestine is proof that hand-drawn animation should and still lives well in the medium. Its clever and fresh nature is purely magnetic and is something that should be considered for the Academy Awards.

The film is scheduled for a limited release December 6.

Anybody who loves animation and just want to see one that warms your heart and moves, charms and entertains you, you have met your match with Ernest and Celestine. With me, out of all the films, animated and otherwise, viewed recently Ernest and Celestine stood out as one of the most beautiful. The animation, with its water-colour/ story-book look, is just lovely to look at and is imaginative while keeping things simple. The is sensitively orchestrated and unobtrusive, one of those music scores that you can listen to more than once and still find it memorable and appealing. You can't argue with the way Ernest and Celestine is written, it has a poetic simplicity that children and adults alike can understand with no problem. The unlikely friendship angle is a familiar one but that doesn't matter when Ermest and Celestine deals with it with so much warmth and heart. You can genuinely feel the relationship/friendship between the characters, and throughout the simple but never too simplistic story is both charming and touching, cute as well(I admit it that I did feel a lot of emotion watching). The characters are just as engaging as the writing, you can identify with them and their friendship and situation and it is easy to like them. They are nimbly voiced too. Overall, a sublime animated film that takes a familiar concept and does it with simplicity and doesn't rely on fart jokes, profanities, slapstick or crude toilet humour, instead allowing the story and friendship between the titular characters to come through and come through they do, and marvellously. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Genuinely charming cartoon feature from the PANIQUE AU VILLAGE lot.

While rummaging through the town's dust bins, Ernest the bear finds sleeping mouse Ernestine and is dissuaded from eating her - whether it's Tom's Jerry, the King Sized Canary or Br'er Rabbit, they never get eaten.

The pair are our introduction to the parallel surface world of the bears and the underground world of the mice, both of which prove hostile, though mouse world is one of those appealing fantasy communities, like Santa city in POLAR EXPRESS or the bath house in SPIRITED AWAY. The lead duo are among the most engaging of cartoon characters and their seclusion seems a nice outcome. It would be interesting to see if their appeal survives English language dubbing.

The watercolour texture is unfamiliar and imaginative. The music is effectively unobtrusive. It would be hard to fault this one. Why try?

It's interesting how studios and creative people would assume they know what people want. Disney knows that people want to see fairy tale stories and grand animation making the way for memorable characters and catchy songs. Warner Brothers knows that people want to see really fast animation alongside some good visual gags as perpetrated by unique charters with a lot of heart. Most other studios seem to copy either formula in their own projects. It's not too bad of an idea as long they can make their movies just as original and unique (projects like Despicable Me or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs).

But I'm surprised with how these two formulas are the only ones that studios want to take a chance on. I've already talked about how I miss traditional hand drawn animation in movies today. You could say that children don't watch those kinds of movies anymore. But I ask of you "Why are classics like Snow White, The Looney Toons and Popeye still being watched by modern kids?". It's because they too has great legacies of good characters and memorable situations. There is always room for other options in animation that want something different. That would be one of this years Oscar nominated movies, Ernest and Celestine.

In a lot of ways, this is nothing like modern Disney, Pixar, or the other big names. This tells a simpler story about friendship; a bear and a mouse. So in a world where mice live underground while bears walk and talk, living how we would, both sides agree that each species is evil and shouldn't we interacted with. At an orphanage, a young mouse Celestine is more curious about why the mice and rats are afraid of bears. She has a job of collecting bear teeth so that mice dentists can file them down for their fellow rodents to wear.

She gets stuck in a garbage can where she is discovered by a starving musician bear, Ernest (played by Forest Whitaker). His first instinct is to eat Celestine, but she quickly scolds him for wanting to do so, confusing him. They make a deal to help each other, but the plan goes amiss and the two hide from the law in Ernest's home in the woods. Most of time is shown them interacting with each other and their skills; Celestine with her obsession with nature and art and Ernest and his spark for music and clowning.

As I've said, this is a different offering from most of the other animated movies out. Ernest and Celestine is a much quieter movie about friendship. Though there's the principle tone about prejudice, the situation is simple at best. There's no villain or threatening force looking to destroy them. It's just this bear and mouse interacting and becoming friends. And you know what? That's all you really need with this kind of story. This is a very sweet and likable story that benefits from some really nice animation and two leads that both kids and adults would really like.

Celestine may just be a young girl whose no higher then a few inches, but she still manages to be very spunky without being too annoying. It's her curiosity that rubs onto me that makes me want to learn about this world more. Ernest is a grouchy loner, but has plenty of heart that allows himself to absorb a lot of new ideas from this little mouse. The movie looks like one large watercolor painting, really letting the art taking control of the design and story. It looks beautiful. It feels more like something I would get from Winnie the Pooh; is simple but it works really well.

I'll give this ten watercolor kits out of ten. Ernest and Celestine isn't exactly the most original story around, but it wins my heart with a very unique look and a gentle tone that anyone can enjoy. It's good old fashioned story telling at it's best. This is an absolute must with families.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK) Rating:3.8/5 stars

Simplistic, sublime, superlative. Classic hand-drawn animation set against a picturesque Parisian background that is filled with an ambiance of great human divide and strong social references. At the heart of this wonderful tale is an endearing story of true friendship that withstands all odds to not only emerge triumphant but also infuse others around them and even the cynics who watch the film to have a change of heart. This soaring tale of friendship also brings forth a profound social commentary told with subtle metaphorical actions, which resonate brilliantly with our own state of human affairs.

a splendid link between use of water colors and the story. a delicate manner to use a book adaptation for remind, in a precise, gentle, lovely style importance of relationship. a film who must see it not only for its message but for the fascinating art to resurrect the childhood flavor in old fashion manner. a movie about friendship , meeting between humor and drama, a form of fable and a lesson about image of the other. a small gem because the voices, the images, the story are not more important/beautiful/realistic but only part of an unique state of soul. an isle in middle of 3D waves, it is honest and warm and nice. but, more important, it is a kind of travel out of reality pressure as a reading fairy stories book in evening. in fact, a remember about small details who defines humanity.

Ernest an Celestine feels like an old Beatrix Potter's book brought forward in time. The story is actually based on a series of children books by Gabrielle Vincent, a Belgian author and illustrator.

This is a story about an impossible friendship and partnership between a male lonely street musician bear and a dentist apprentice female mouse who just wants to be a painter. The two live in the same city but in different worlds that don't mingle and despise each other, but are essentially a version of each other. Ernest and Celestine, despite their origin, have an immediate connection because they are practical common sense people, artists with a sensitive nature and a view of the world that don't easily accept absurd societal norms.

The story is very simple, with a great message and mix of heart, fun and cuteness, perfect for small children, still enjoyable by adults. It is well narrated, very entertaining and visually wonderful. The hand-drawn animation in pastel colors is absolutely gorgeous, especially beautiful regarding the backgrounds and interior design. Celestine's character is uber-cute. There is not much to tell about this movie, it is heart-warming, has a good message of acceptance of different people, teaches you not to judge a book by its cover, and speaks of how wonderful is having a good friend.

The film is 90 minutes long, but it feels shorter.

I watched this movie dubbed by the Americans, and I found all the cast stupendous. You know the cast of an animated is good when you don't recognize their natural voices. Forest Whitaker is excellent and unrecognizable as Ernest, Mackenzie Foy is delightful as Celestine, Giametti makes the rat judge really despicable, and Jeffrey Wright has a wonderful judging calm voice as the Grizzly Judge. Lauren Bacall is great as the Great One. All great assets for this delightful movie.

An Oscar nominee in the category of best animation feature. The cutest animation which gave the experience of seeing a Japanese anime similar to from the Ghibli studio. The characters are very adorable, especially both the Ernest and Celestine. After praising the technicians I mean the illustrator I must compliment the voice renders. Whenever I hear Celestine saying 'Ernest, Ernest' I just fall in love because it was sexy. I know French language itself a seductive.

No age group limited to enjoy this animation. From 6 year-old kid to 60 year-old and beyond that can have a great time with it. A simple animation with a good message story. Probably you will come to know what kinda movie is this if you have seen 'Stormy Night' and 'Ratatouille'. A tale about the unlikely friendship between two different living creatures.

It all begins with a young little mouse who got a different opinion on the creatures that live above their world. The earth's surface was ruled by the big bad bears and that is what beneather believe. Between these two world a new friendship bloom from nowhere. But both the societies denies it so the two must protect each other and run for their life. Instead, they need to prove it can be possible and harmless. So they have to take the advantage of the such circumstances and how it can be done is the rest.

The character Ernest was lazy, but tough and Celestine is very active, but sensitive in matters. The friendship between them was very well told, in an enchanting way. I liked the replacement of bear in the place of humans. Otherwise, our people think they are genius to find similarity between this and 'Ratatouille'.

Earlier I was very, very disappointed for ditching 'Monsters University' over crap movie 'Despicable Me 2'. I will be so happy if 'The Wind Rises' or this movie wins the Oscar. But Americas own 'Frozen' will be a strong contender for the honour.

Finally, I retire for now by saying it is a must see movie, especially if you are an animation movie fan. I truly wanted it not to end, in the world at certain point everything must end and so it is against my will.

Ernest And Celestine is a fantastic story that presents us a friendship that shouldn't happen, but against all odds prevails. Celestine is a young mouse that is curious about the world above and has a knack for art. Unfortunately for her, the mice around her wish to see her become a dentist as it is more her position in society. Almost alike, above the sewage an oaf like bear named Ernest longs to become a performer, but upon his family's wishes to become a judge, he ultimately ends up living in poor conditions and with his aspirations frowned upon. When they meet they will shake the foundations of the place they live in. This tale is classic storytelling and features interesting characters to root for. This friendship seems very real because the personalities involved are genuinely kind and don't agree with the way life is lived. The animation is very simple yet beautiful. Against more grand animation works, Ernest And Celestine still stands out with its endearing story and overall is a pleasure to watch.

Rating: 7,5/10

Ernest & Celestine is a cute little film about two unlikely friends. It feels exactly like the kind of animated film they would have shown us in school when I was a kid, and I would have adored it then. I love the two main characters and their rapport. It definitely feels like Ernest & Celestine bring out the best in each other. It's also neat that they value one another for what they are good at, instead of foisting selfish desires on each other. I also liked the simplicity of the animation, because it has a childlike quality to the images that lacks any pretentiousness. This feels like a throwback to hand-drawn animation from the past, and I'm still a fan of that visual style.

However, I wasn't particularly enamored with the strange world they build in Ernest & Celestine. This city that seems to only contain bears and mice, but where they are mortal enemies, didn't work all that well for me. I also found the strange mouse-tooth-fairy thing to be an odd choice. It all works to make the protagonists a pair of outcasts, but I wasn't buying into the world in the first place, which is a problem. Celestine's ambitions didn't seem strange enough to be ostracized, and I didn't feel they quite reached the kind of resolution I was hoping to see. I do appreciate the charms of Ernest & Celestine, but perhaps I'm too grown up and jaded to fully embrace it.

Move over Pixar and Disney, your monopoly be damned. Although I do like some of the Pixar/Dinsey animated movies, it was always the French animated movies that I adored. It was always amusing and entertaining and often adhering to real life nuances than go all aboard with fantasy. From L'illusioniste to Persepolis, the craftsmanship and quality that goes into these movies are impeccable. Often manually animated than using CG, the smooth animation is just mesmerizing, furthermore the narrative and the characters rivets you to your seats. Although these movies might not garner as much attention as an over-rated Hollywood production, they've always been highly refined, immensely engrossing.

Based on the kids' book by Belgian author and illustrator Gabrielle Vincent, Ernest et Célestine is the sweet sweet story of Célestine an orphan mouse who befriends a poor Bear, Ernest. In a society where the two factions are prohibited The story isn't something to write home about but it has all the essential elements to entertain you till end. I saw the French version and it seems like there is also an English dubbed version voiced over by some AAA actors like Forest Whitaker, Paul Giamatti, William H. Macy. The movie is warmly visual and wouldn't be an issue for the young ones to get hold of whats happening on screen.

Its simplicity is what made me love it so much. You are drawn into the spellbinding art and animation and its almost like a water-colored fairytale book come to life in front of you. It works a bit like a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip sans the philosophical quandaries. Instead Ernest et Célestine digs subtly into the political and societal undertones. Having seen both Frozen and Ernest et Célestine, I couldn't even fathom why Frozen won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

In an industry where even animated movies are filled with shades of debauchery, you'd be a victim of a slew of questions from your young ones that you'd be too embarrassed to answer. Thankfully, Ernest et Célestine is a movie so innocent and pure at heart, that it can be watched with kids of all ages. Let them soak in the brilliant and colorful art direction and Ernest et Célestine's beautiful friendship. There's a lot that could be learnt from these two adorable critters.

A beautifully drawn and told story for children, with a pretty deep message for adults. Almost everything about it is near perfection and probably its only true imperfection is that it is too close to perfection. Up and down, individual and gregarious, social and spiritual, almost all the fundamental symbols of humanity are so nicely put together into the cutest story ever that you might feel it's too simple. It is in the end, after all, just a children story and for some of the people watching it the message will maybe not go through. It's like saying to someone that the secret to happiness is to think positive. They'll dismiss it as a total nonsense. That's how I came to the conclusion this movie is a straight 10 - the secret to a good movie is almost childlike simplicity and sincerity.

Apparently, there is more than one version of this film available--the original French as well as a new English language dub. I saw the French version with subtitles, so keep this in mind.

In this odd little world, the bears live in cities--just like people. But the only other creature in this odd world are the mice--and they live under the city. The two species avoid each other and the mice are convinced that the bears are all evil. However, one young mouse, Celestine, is convinced that these stories adults tell young mice about the bears are just stories and she's interested in the world above. I'm not going to go into all the details how, but Celestine eventually meets Ernest the bear. Ernest actually IS ready to eat Celestine but doesn't and they eventually become friends. However, in the process of stealing some teeth (it's a long story--just see this portion of the film yourself), they become wanted by both the mouse and bear police--and for upsetting the way society runs. What's to happen next? See the film.

The best thing this film has going for it is that it's sweet and quite adorable. Additionally, the animation is really interesting and unique. While "Frozen" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, "Ernest & Celestine" was also nominated. While most probably wouldn't agree, I think this French film should have won because it was much more innovative and entertaining. A film that's hard to hate...I sure hope we see more from the folks who made this fine movie.

A visual & emotional delight from start to finish, Ernest & Célestine is an immensely sweet yet simple tale of a young mouse named Célestine who develops an unlikely friendship with a bear named Ernest. It presents a world where bears live above the ground while the underground belongs to rodents. Célestine is pursuing a dental career even though he has no interest in it & spends most of his time sketching or painting. Ernest on the other hand is a poor bear who is starving in the cold but is unable to find any food or money. A twist of fate brings the two together when Célestine helps Ernest find food & Ernest returns the favour by fulfilling Célestine's wish & an unlikely bond is formed between the two which only gets stronger as the film progresses.

The story is surprisingly good here & is brilliantly envisioned for the screen. The script retains an adorable cuteness & the way it's been crafted gives an appearance of a wonderful artist painting a beautiful picture with water colours. Running at only 80 minutes, the film still manages to retain a relaxed pace in narrating its story & the animation is aesthetically & artistically pleasing. On an overall scale, Ernest & Célestine is a refreshing & heartwarming take on friendship that'll appeal to both kids & grown ups and is a quiet yet fresh addition to its genre which unfortunately didn't have a very fruitful year. Easily one of the best animation films of 2013, this sweet, cute & unexpectedly touching cinema is delightfully recommended.

I was encouraged to watch this animated film when it was named one of the nominees of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature for this year. I have been rewarded before by discovering small obscure gems like "Secret of Kells." This is one is another charming treat.

Ernest is a bear. Celestine is a mouse. There live in two parallel worlds never meant to meet, where each is a nightmare to the other. However, when needs overtake reason, Celestine crosses over to the world above, meets Ernest and later conscripts him to help her with a big favor. Their caper entangles them with the law from both the world above and the world below, making them fugitives twice over.

The pastel watercolor and pencil sketch artwork is definitely very charming and delightful. It is always refreshing to see other forms of animation aside from the mainstream noisy, high-energy Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks fare.

The only thing I did not really like about this supposedly children's film was that there is an angle that involves a criminal act. Crime should not pay, even if the perpetrators are cute. The message might confuse young children.

So Mickey Mouse and friends didn't really comment on the fact that its anthropic animals all got along, and any disputes that arise are not because of inter-species suspicion; Zootopia problematized this by showing tensions within a multi-animal metropolis. Ernest and Celestine creates an alternate reality in which bears live in a human-like society above ground, while mice mirror them below. Both species are very afraid of each other for different reasons, though bears do not seem particularly inclined to eat mice. Despite these fantastic conceits, the movie itself offers a refreshingly upbeat and somehow realist, sweet portrayal of an inter-species (Platonic? This is French, and there is a weird scene with sperm-like tadpoles) bond between a young mouse and a bear of uncertain age. They're imperfect (especially Ernest), even accidental criminals, but the audience forgives them because of their inspiring connection transcends their own identities, the prejudices of their compatriots/conspecifics, and ultimately the movie's own fantasy world.

'ERNEST & CELESTINE': Three Stars (Out of Five)

One of the Oscar nominated films for Best Animated Feature this year is this tale of a bear and a mouse who become friends (despite society trying to keep them apart, due to prejudices). It was directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner and written by Daniel Pennac (the English adaptation was written by Stephanie Sheh). The movie is a French-Belgian film that's based on a children's book series written and illustrated by Gabrielle Vincent (a Belgian writer). I think it's a good movie for kids (with a positive message about accepting others) but it's not worthy of any Oscar nominations.

The film tells the story a mouse named Celestine (voiced by Pauline Brunner) and a bear named Ernest (Lambert Wilson). Celestine lives in an underground orphanage where she's constantly read horror stories about evil bears, by an orphanage guardian named La Grice (Anne-Marie Loop). Celestine doesn't believe the stories though and makes drawings of nice bears who befriend mice (which other rodents mock her for). All mice are raised to be dentists and one day Celestine is sent outside (to the bear world) to collect lost teeth from underneath bear cubs' pillows. On her adventure she meets Ernest, who is starving and at first wants to eat her. Celestine shows him a cellar full of candy instead and an odd friendship forms between the two. Others of course find their friendship frightening (to their way of life) though.

The drawings are reminiscent of old classic animated films and cartoons and the movie does have somewhat of a nostalgic feel to it. Like I said the message of the film (about prejudices and biases) is a good one and the overall nature of it is very innocent and comforting. The story is very simplistic and predictable though and I found the movie to be really boring at times as well. It is a good film for kids but I expect a lot more from an Oscar nominee. I don't think animated movies like 'DESPICABLE ME 2' deserve their Oscar nominations either though.

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What happens when you mixes unique water color visuals, a coherent plot, good voice acting both in English dub and in the original French, and have a an entertaining story representing powerful themes. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Ernest & Celestine. Original title (Ernest et Célestine)

Before I begin I would like to note that I did a lot of things just to find out there was a DVD release.Sorry to keep you waiting let's begin.

The best place to start this review is the story. The story line of the film is that a mouse and a bear become friends in a society where mice live underground and despise bears, and bear live above ground and treat mice like humans do. Okay, I know that the story sounds pretty silly. But it's not. In fact it very well done. The way they represent that hatred and fear between mice and bears is funny, serious, and the prejudice is tamed enough for children to watch. The key word is enough. This film is not afraid to hold back on a few parts. Besides I'm an American. Where I come from we have tons of sillier, and worse sounding film plots that usually get terrible reviews in the end. The way that Ernest the bear and Celestine the mouse meet and become friends in the end shows us the world they live in and is also very understandable keeping up with the films continuity. The ending itself is very unique and respectful. The film Ernest and Celestine is based on a book with the same title made by Belgian author Gabrielle Vincent. The ending isn't anticlimactic or anything, but it does beg the question of why the film makers couldn't continue afterwards. It's because they wanted to respect the now dead author's way of making the books.

Visually this film looks not shorter than the word outstanding. I believe this is the first 2D animated film to be done in water color, and a bit of Computer animation. Ernest & Celestine's graphics are beautifully well painted. This is one of the few films in history where you can pause the film any time and it will look like a portrait. Anybody who has a DVD like I do can take pictures of the film in HD and make our own portraits of them. However there's one thing that can be criticized. The visuals are not always used that to their maximum potential. What I mean by that is that there are not a few scenes in the film where the visuals are used to open the world were looking at on screen with ease. That may sound like an opinion but if you watch the film you'll see. I should note that if you want to enjoy this film looks to the fullest, I recommended that you by the DVD. If you plan on watching this online and can't find it in High Definition then some of the visuals in the film will come off blurry. Depending on how much you like the film clearly will help you decide if you want to but the DVD.

Lastly the Voice acting is supremely good. I know by now some people might think I'm just over praising this film now, but really these voice overs are amazing. Gkids the translators deserve a big applause for translating this into English voices. Every voice in the film fits perfectly.

Overall Ernest & Celestine is a delight. I'm happy to say waiting for this film was worth it. It's also nice to revisit this film. The best way to describe its re-watch ability is like this. You're being told a story at night time. The characters are your milk, and the visuals are you cookies. By Facts this film deserves a score of 9.5. The majority of people who will watch the film will definitely like it and come back for more. The score for the majority is an 8.7. And here are the other scores. Animation 9.6/10, Story 9.5/10, Characters 10/10, and Pacing 9/10.

Ernest and Celestine is beautiful to look at, but failed to impress me in any other field. Ernest and Celestine is the creation of french directors Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, and Benjamin Renner. The first two are also the directors of one of my favorites, A Town Called Panic. A Town Called Panic is a great movie, which I can't say the same for about Ernest and Celestine.

Ernest and Celestine looks great. Each frame looks like a children's drawing. Lots of character is communicated through the animation of characters. Every character also feels real by almost every movement having an effect on the environment, such as sound effects, a responding character, or the environment.

The biggest reason Ernest and Celestine doesn't work as well is it takes itself much more seriously. This could be good or bad, but the movie has parts that are hard to describe other than dumb. Can't really describe any without spoiling, but one example is a series of conveniences towards the end to bring the movie to a happy conclusion. Many such conveniences are in A Town Called Panic, but since it doesn't take itself seriously you can laugh at the stupid parts rather than be bothered by them. The movie tackles the subject of prejudice, but it does so in a black and white way. Where all of the prejudiced characters have no reasons, real or imagined, to separate one another. I found the predictability of how it would develop disappointing, because A Town Called Panic always surprised me.

All that said, none of my complaints are anything that should stop you from showing your kid this movie. The voice acting is good, and the characters likable. I thought Ernest and Celestine was very good with issues that stop me from calling it great. I would recommend Ernest and Celestine to adults and children alike, but I most likely won't revisit it soon.

There's near-universal acclaim for this movie among critics and viewers, so mine is definitely a minority opinion. While I enjoyed the movie, the story just didn't make much sense to me or seem at all consistent. The various actions of the characters, their situation in life didn't make much sense to me. The dual tracks of the above/below ground worlds of bear/mouse society were odd.

But what bothered me most about the film, especially as a film for children, was the relationship between the two main characters. It went beyond that of what we traditionally think of as close friends, who, while greatly enjoying each other's company, still want to be part of society and be with others. The relationship between Ernest & Celestine is much more that of lovers, happy if the entire world goes to hell so long as they can be together. Celestine is a "her" at one point of the film; whether Ernestine's gender is ever revealed I don't know. But the relationship seems to be that of of a big, strong, dumb male and a petite, weak, smart female...of different species.

Probably 98% of readers will respond "it's just a fairy tale," "you're reading too much into it," "yours is a narrow, conservative view of love" etc. But for me, the movie sends a confusing message to children of friendship versus love, especially given the different species of the characters.