| A Town Called Panic | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Stéphane Aubier Vincent Patar |
| Produced by | Adriana Piasek-Wanski |
| Written by | Stéphane Aubier Vincent Patar |
| Starring | Jeanne Balibar (Voice) Nicolas Buysse (Voice) Véronique Dumont (Voice) |
| Music by | Fabien Pochet |
| Cinematography | Jan Vandenbussche |
| Editing by | Peter Bernaers |
| Distributed by | Gébéka Films (France) Zeitgeist Films (US) Optimum Releasing (UK) |
| Release date(s) | 21 May 2009 (Cannes) 28 October 2009 (France) |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | Belgium Luxembourg France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $166,688 |
A Town Called Panic (French: Panique au village) 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.[1] It premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was the first stop-motion film to be screened at the festival.[2]
Contents |
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.
The film was made over the course of 260 days in a studio on the outskirts of Brussels. 1500 plastic toy figures were used during filming.[3]
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".[4]
Empire magazine were very positive awarding the film 4 stars, summing it up as "Toy Story on absinthe"[5] 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."[6] Ebert later placed the film on his list of the best animated films of 2010.