One of the films in contention for best animated film at the upcoming Academy Awards is the French film Ernest & Celestine, directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner.
In the film we are introduced to a small, young and artistic mouse named Celestine who optimistically dreams and questions the current norms that her underground mouse civilization lives by, that all bears are bad. The mice live underground while the bears live above ground, acting and working like we humans do. Soon after we are introduced to Ernest, a poor and hungry bear who performs music on the street in an attempt to earn cash. One morning Ernest nearly devours Celestine but after she helps him find an alternative food source, he repays her debt but soon the two become fugitive of the laws. After narrowly escaping the police (both bear and mouse police) in Bonnie and Clyde-like fashion, the two begin to develop their friendship in the countryside, helping each other along the way as they try to improve both of their initially poor situations.
Based on the Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, at its core, Ernest & Celestine is a story about two troubling outcasts who come together and form an unlikely friendship that’s considered taboo amongst their cultures. In the underground land of the mice, people tell terror stories about bears while the bears themselves are either scared of the mice or want to eat them. This is what leads to a very funny first interaction between Ernest and Celestine, it comes off very Looney Tunes-like and then leads to trouble in the way those cartoons normally do.
Initially, I wasn’t a fan of the animation style but as the film progressed I realized how innocent and refreshing it was to see a style that felt like an animated watercolor painting rather than the constant use of bold colors that we see in anime and computer generated features . I’ll admit it took some getting used to but I think this style, in addition to the cute story, are why people have become enamored with this film.
As you watch a film there a lot of clever little scenes and ways that the filmmakers take human elements of lifestyle and translate it into the worlds of the bears and the mice. For example, the bears tell their children that the fairy mice come for their teeth and leave a coin which happens to be partially true since the mice go out and steal bear teeth as replacements for their own. My favorite aspect though was when Celestine is walking around town and they show a bunch of mice working out and using mouse traps as a bench presses, I thought that was extremely clever and funny.
Part of the charm of watching Ernest & Celestine is that it feels like you’re actually watching a children’s book, and one specifically from at least 10 years ago. The style, the feel, the story, tone and everything else reminds me of the books my mom read to me as a child and though it is a very cute film to watch, it’s what the film evokes inside audience members that makes it such a strong film and why it has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes thus far. I don’t know if it’ll win the Oscar as I do think there are stronger films in the category but it is certainly one that should make the final nomination cut and one certainly worth checking out if you can.
Rating: A beautiful and cute film that looks like an animated version of children’s books of yesteryear (7.8/10)
