Minuscule : La Vallée des fourmis perdues

So here I am, watching the original "Minuscule" one week after I enjoyed its sequel with my daughter on the local movie theater, she liked the poster and if it wasn't for her enthusiastic endorsement, I might never have heard about any of "Minuscule 1" or "2", especially since the first one didn't even catch the attention of prestigious festivals, too busy rewarding "Frozen" to care about a simple, sweet and endearing movie about little insect that flies us back to the essence of animation and comedy.

And just as I expected it, the order of viewing didn't really matter. "Minuscule" proved to be an enchanting entertainment for the little ones, amused by these little buzzing sounds and thrilled by the action sequences and the adults who will appreciate the beautiful scenery, the gags and a few nods to their childhood. I trusted directors Helene Giraud and Thomas Szabo to beget something as hypnotic and thrilling as their sequel and I wasn't disappointed.

I knew the film wouldn't take the insects too far from home, that there would be no paradise island this time but now, but the series could expand to four or five installments, I don't think I'll get tired of it. You can take these ladybugs to the city, to New York City, to a desert, as long as they don't confront an army of cockroaches, I'll handle it. But there's more in the film than geographical escapism, its greatest merit is to dwell in many universes at the same time. Starting with the big picture: a realistic looking world established with a picnic with a real-looking couple, interestingly misleading us.

The picnic is interrupted when the woman in her latest stages of pregnancy feels the first signs of labor. Her husband takes her to the car, so they all leave the food at the mercy of little bugs and insects from the neighboring forest. And then we get to the insect's perspective and instead looking more or less real, what we get is perhaps the cutest creatures ever without the Disney eyelashes or the cute voices. They're all identified through wordless sounds: ladybugs buzz, ants emit sort of electronic hums, flies have a funny human-like giggle but there's little to no talk whatsoever.

And this is how you distance yourself from mastodons such as Pixar and Disney, there's no need for making any intelligible sound, you take the viewers back to the roots of animation and comedy by making a simple and straightforward story and leave everything up to slapstick, action and heart. It's just as simple as that and yet the level of fun is subtly sophisticated because the film doesn't try to take its 'no sound' device as a trademark of realism but as a creative canvas in order to fill up the scenes with the most inventive visual gags, appealing to both kids and adults.

And the structure of "Minuscule" is simple too, the film is divided in two acts: a thrilling chase sequences between black ants and red ants, the former group carrying a box of sugar cubes to their hive and the latter pursuing them inside a soda can after they refused one cube as a peace offering. The chase, as thrilling as "Apocalypto", gets trickier when their means of transportation are floating over rapids or when a hungry fish gets in the picture and a simple sugar box becomes a boat, a U-boat and war booty.

The second part involves a hilarious and heart-pounding war battle with the same box of cubes at stakes, and the mastery of CGI has nothing to envy from the epic effects "Mulan", I loved the epic of the red ants trying to break the black ants fortress, the way they use everyday objects as weapons, including insecticide bombs and toothpicks, or use forks as catapults even at the risk of falling down while uttering Wilhelm scream in their falls. I won't spoil the whole film but this is a fine example of linear and simple storytelling where the language is as universal as music.

Indeed, "Minuscule" has the outdated charm of a Silly Symphony cartoon, the tenderness of a Miyazaki especially with the cameo of a little spider creature who bears a strange resemblance with his soot sprites, the breathtaking visuals of a documentary and even the naughtiness of some more adult-oriented cartoons and one or two fart jokes that happen to work.

I saw the sequel in the theater and this one, at home, with my daughter and my father was here but she slept so we watched it alone and this time the roles were reversed, I was the little one watching it with his parent, but like the previous film, we both liked it. And I guess the best compliment you can give it is that it feels like it could have been made at any time for any audience. "Frozen" is good but it's a product of its time, "The Wind Rises" is masterpiece but that Miyazaki could only make after reaching his artistic peak. "Minuscule" is timeless.

Totally loved this movie, didn't know what to expect but was thrilled, charmed and amazed throughout. Cinematography is beautiful and the attention to detail astonishing, a lot of hard work has gone into this production and it really shows. Loved the personality's of each insect and although you need to suspend complete disbelief at what they achieve during the course of the movie it doesn't detract from a visual treat that is accomplished with zero dialogue from beginning to end, yes, no words from beginning to end and still a brilliant movie. Simply put, the best real film footage with CGI animation that I've ever seen - Kudos to the makers of this highly original film.

For a movie that blends CGI with real world shots, this is a very well done venture. The landscape is very beautiful, the music is delightful and there is a serene quality to the movie that would sooth your senses in the long run. As another reviewer mentioned, there was no real point to putting up racing car sounds to flying bugs but this is brief. There is no dialogue at all so its just sit back and follow the way these bugs communicate though whistles and chirps. Its a nice tale of friendship and I have to commend the director for this innovative venture. The final war scene between the red and the black ants is hilarious so I would highly recommend watching till the end.

I am the big fan of the television short-video series 'Minuscule'. I watched all of them like a kid when it was aired in my country on Nickelodeon. Along with me everyone in my family loved it and each of us like different characters. So we all expected this movie from the very beginning when they announced the project. The wait is over, I saw it a couple of days ago and I totally loved it.

It was the best choice of characters for the movie over plenty of tiny creatures are desperate to debut on the silver screen. They chose ants and ladybugs and their adventures filled with lots of humour. This was the story of a young ladybug who got separated from his parents. He meets a pack of black ants who are on a hunt for food, then they team up and help each other to face the challenge that coming in their way to home. Especially red ants who are on the trail to snatch their finds. This running and chasing between two small groups of creature becomes a crucial war between those races.

If you are familiar with this TV series, then you will clearly understand the characters and their behaviour. Not much deviated, they kept as much the original except stretched to 90 minutes runtime. The story was largely inspired from 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Each section of the story telling reminds different episode of 'The Lord of the Rings'. First, it begins with 'The Fellows of the Sugar Cubes', then 'The Single Tower' and ends with 'The Return of the Queen'. All the way it was so much fun like you had for the TV series.

No need to worry for the first time watcher, especially who are unfamiliar with these little characters. It was more like another version that you had seen in the Hollywood animations 'Antz', 'A Bug Life' 'Bee Movie' et cetera. The best part of all of it was this movie was dialogueless. No speaking, no names and no hard-coded subs. It only features amusing sounds created by the bugs and the wonderful background scores. It's a universal theme and presentation without any language barriers.

A specially made movie for children with fine story. In company of them adults as well can enjoy it equally. One of the best animation movie, in fact the best children's movie of the year. Hope this title continues with many sequels in which each of the installments should brief different bug's or insect's tales. A must show to the kids and must see by the animation movie fans. Have this and have a great time.

its a shame people won't watch this because they think its foreign. there is no dialogue just a great score and sound effects, the insects do speak in there language which anyone with half a brain can work out! the cross animation with real world looks stunning! this will slowly become an all time great when the masses slowly catch on. great fun for children and adults alike,having said that young children may find bits a bit too sad! its a clever story of kindness,bullying,friendship,and war! all i can say is give it a chance and you will be very glad you did! its not cheaply done and could be compared to the outstanding visuals of a pixar movie! enjoy!!!!