Ernest & Célestine

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.