Written by Linda
April 17, 2010
Imagine if Steamboat Willie melded with Betty Boop, and had a bone-dry sense of humor.
Imagine, perhaps, if Jean-Pierre Jeunet (City of Lost Children, Amélie) made an animated movie. Or if Steamboat Willie melded with Betty Boop, and had a bone-dry sense of humor. Characters are drawn ridiculously exaggerated: bloated, stretched, pinched, boxy, and inflated. The urban landscape looks like New York City vomited on Paris (or vice-versa). Throw in some song and dance that is thoroughly rooted in the 1920s, shake it all up in a can, and splash it on a canvas, and you've got The Triplets of Belleville.
Plot, you ask? That's not the point! Shame on you! I didn't know anything about this movie when I saw it, so I think that you should go in fresh as well. I'll just say that it roughly involves a short, round grandma with an orthopedic shoe, her equally round canine companion, and an incident at the Tour de France. Watch the movie unfold with untainted vision.
Though this is a French film, note that it doesn't bother with subtitles, as there is hardly any dialogue. The story hurtles, creaks, whistles, and groans along (I think this is the first time I've ever heard the click of a dog's toenails in animation before). Kids can follow the tale with no problem, and I think will find the movie to be loads of fun.
But I have to say, The Triplets of Belleville is a movie for those of us big kids. The screening I attended was at one of the biggest movie houses in town, and it was packed with adults. There were several times that the audience burst into roaring laughter, and there was even a round of applause at the end. No child props are needed for this one. Feel free to watch with a friend instead.
