Même les souris vont au paradis

But then drifted off into cliche. Bullying friends, abusive dad, overblown character traits.

The animation, the set up, the look was all good, but it delivered a simplified one dimensonal story we've seen many times before.

A truly enjoyable and charming family film about an unusual friendship. Almost ( but not quite) as good as the classic stop-motion film "The fool of the world and the flying ship". The characterisation could have been improved a little, but the need to keep the timing down to something reasonable for the younger viewers is probably a reasonable excuse. Definitely one I would have watched with my Kidlings when they were younger. Some flaws but overall the feel-good conclusion allows me to give 8/10.

Sweet and deep tale to be enjoyed by children and adults alike. A brave movie about death, friendship, courage and the relativity of life, presented in a miraculous world that shows a high level of craftsmanship and talent.

While I do admit the first 15-ish minutes were not that engaging to me, feeling like another standard kids movie, it really started to pick up a little after Whitebelly (the fox), and Wheezy (the mouse) meet.

First of all the movie has some of the best looking stop motion I've seen in quite a while, visually looking like The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and possibly a bit of Isle of Dogs. Even though most of it is physical props in stop motion, the rare thing that's not actually stop motion such as large pools of water, and the whale towards the end mesh well together despite being clearly CGI.

The character of Wheezy (mouse) was initially a little two-dimensional feeling with her personality, she and the other personalities got a bit better and more immersive feeling, while the character of Whitebelly and the supporting cast felt pretty strong (except for the Moles, they felt a bit like a walking gag).

The ending, and the whole message of the movie itself is pretty impactful.

I'd go out of your way to find this if possible, just try to stick with it past the first 15 or so minutes and you'll find something pretty underrated.

I watched this on the English dub, and not the original French one as I don't like subtitle blindness, nor can I speak French. *shrug*

A pleasant little film I got to watch recently through a festival screening. Its by no means amazing but I did appreciate its charm and its ability to be a film for young people with the underlying philosophical aspects of life, death, self worth and morality. How two people pitted to be mortal enemies can find resolve through their differences, while also turning the cat and mouse game on its head by inverting the roles.