Le château des singes

The obvious plus is the fine voice cast; John Hurt, Michael Gambon and Michael York. Alas, they have very little to work with. Do forgive me, it has been months since I saw this, but I do remember Monkey's Tale wasn't a very good film. Kids may like it, but adults will find plenty to criticise here. The biggest minus is the songs, I agree with one of the comments that they are awful,(the sort of thing you'll hear in pre-school) and they come out of nowhere as well. The animation wasn't very good either, it was flat, and there were some scenes where it felt rushed. However, I did like the story. It was a really nice idea, about Kom falling into another world, becoming smitten with a servant, and discovering a plot to overthrow the king. Unfortunately, the voice actors, who are all immensely talented, and the main reason why this isn't a complete disaster, didn't have desperately much to work with. There were times, when it wanted to get somewhere, but never did. I genuinely hate criticising movies, but this movie, while far from the worst movie ever, was very weak in the music, animation and scripting departments. 5/10 in respect to the voice actors. Bethany Cox

Kon, a brave inhabitant of the upper reaches of the forest, drops down towards the medieval society on ground level. Kon is considered a primitive because he doesn't wear much clothing and doesn't cover his ears. He falls in love with a simple maid and becomes the court-jester. Then suddenly the lake freezes over and it snows for the first time in living history. The king takes this opportunity to discover the mystical lands across the lake, a disastrous idea as the ice melts during the expedition... I won't give more details as it will take all the excitement out of the flick. I'll say this dough, well made, nice songs and fun to see. Takes the monkey with both primitive and advanced society. The one for being too conservative, the other for being backstabbing, intellectual and focused on clothing. Both are filled with superstition. Nice one!

I saw this cartoon in France when it came out with my daughter, who was 8. We both really enjoyed it at the time. Later I got a copy from friends in France, and we watched it again. There are some flaws, but on the whole it's an excellent story about the dangers of ignorance, the beauty of dreams, and the wonders of the unknown. Some monkeys leave in the canopy of the forest and do not dare to come down to the dark, far away, unknown bottom as they see it as a dangerous place. But when one of them, more daring than the rest finds his way down there, he discovers a lot of amazing facts. The characters are well defined and interpreted (at least in the French version, I haven't heard the English) and, even though the animation is sometimes choppy, it gains back points with the pure beauty of the decors. And sometimes if the story meanders, it is to spend the time necessary to add some "human" touches to the characters. There is a morale too, but I will let you discover it for yourself.