A Town Called Panic (film)
Encyclopedia
A Town Called Panic is a 2009 stop-motion animated film, co-produced by Belgium, Luxembourg and France. It was directed by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar and is based on the TV series of the same name
. It premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
and was the first stop-motion film to be screened at the festival.
. 1500 plastic toy figures were used during filming.
Empire magazine were very positive awarding the film 4 stars, summing it up as "Toy Story on absinthe" and stating the film was "One of the year's true originals." Hollywood Reporter were positive also summarizing that "There's really very little to say about this film beyond that it's absolutely brilliant". Roger Ebert enjoyed the film, rating it 3.5/4 and stating that "Because the plot is just one doggoned thing after another without the slightest logic, there's no need to watch it all the way through at one sitting. If you watch it a chapter or two at a time, it should hold up nicely." Ebert later placed the film on his list of the best animated films of 2010.
A Town Called Panic
A Town Called Panic is a 2000 puppetoon series distributed by Aardman Animations and produced in Belgium by Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier for La Parti & Pic Pic André. It follows the everyday events of Cowboy, Indian and Horse in a small rural town as they go about their lives...
. It premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
and was the first stop-motion film to be screened at the festival.
Plot
Three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse share a house in a rural town. Cowboy and Indian plan to surprise Horse with a homemade barbecue for his birthday. However, they accidentally order 50 million bricks, instead of the 50 they actually require. This sets off a chain of events as the trio travel to the center of the earth, trek across frozen tundra and discover a parallel underwater universe of pointy-headed (and dishonest) creatures.Cast
- Stéphane Aubier as (Cowboy, Max Briquenet, Mr Ernotte)
- Jeanne BalibarJeanne BalibarJeanne Balibar is a French actress and singer.She was born in Paris. She began her acting career on the stage, in "Don Juan" at the Festival d'Avignon. Her first film role was in Arnaud Desplechin's 1992 film The Sentinel. She continues to perform in both spheres.Recently she starred in Ne Change...
as (Madame Longrée) - Nicolas Buysse as (Sheep, Jean-Paul)
- François De Brigode as (Sportscaster)
- Véronique Dumont as (Janine)
- Bruce Ellison as (Indian)
- Christine Grulois as (Cow, Student)
- Frédéric Jannin as (Policeman, Gérard, Brick Delivery Man)
- Bouli LannersBouli LannersPhilippe "Bouli" Lanners is a Belgian actor, author and film director...
as (Postman, Simon, Cow) - Christelle Mahy as (Chicken)
- Éric Muller as (Rocky Gaufres, Music Student 1)
- François Neyken as (Pig)
- Vincent Patar as (Horse, Mother Atlante)
- Pipou as (Michel's laugh)
- Franco Piscopo as (Bear)
- Benoît PoelvoordeBenoît PoelvoordeBenoît Poelvoorde is a Belgian actor and comedian who often associates cynicism, humour and drama in his movies.His mother was a grocer and his father a driver, who died when Poelvoorde was still young...
as (Steven) - David Ricci as (Donkey, Michel)
- Ben Tesseur as (Scientist 1)
- Alexandre von Sivers as (Scientist 2)
Production
The film was made over the course of 260 days in a studio on the outskirts of BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. 1500 plastic toy figures were used during filming.
Reception
The film has received mostly positive reviews with a score of 87% "fresh" on Rotten tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.6/10 based on 47 reviews (41 of which were positive). Little White Lies awarded the film 4 out of 5 for enjoyment stating "wide-eyed, broad smile" although in retrospect they scored the film 3 out of 5 suggesting that "like all toys. It will have a shelf life".Empire magazine were very positive awarding the film 4 stars, summing it up as "Toy Story on absinthe" and stating the film was "One of the year's true originals." Hollywood Reporter were positive also summarizing that "There's really very little to say about this film beyond that it's absolutely brilliant". Roger Ebert enjoyed the film, rating it 3.5/4 and stating that "Because the plot is just one doggoned thing after another without the slightest logic, there's no need to watch it all the way through at one sitting. If you watch it a chapter or two at a time, it should hold up nicely." Ebert later placed the film on his list of the best animated films of 2010.
Awards and nominations
- Official Selection (Out of Competition), 2009 Cannes Film Festival2009 Cannes Film FestivalThe 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
. - Official Selection, 2009 Toronto Film Festival.
- Winner, Audience Award, 2009 Fantastic FestFantastic FestFantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of The Iron Giant and Secondhand Lions. The festival focuses on genre films such as horror,...
.
External links
- A Town Called Panic at TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
- A Town Called Panic at FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...