Animation is very much like fantasy; it can create a reality unfamiliar to us, make us believe in its vision, and enrapture us by its magical charm. In these realities, sharks not only talk but they can be vegetarians (Finding Nemo), humans can turn into giant swine by overeating enchanted food (Spirited Away), an ogre and his pet donkey can turn into a handsome man and a white stallion (Shrek 2), the US can go to war against Canada because a group of boys start using foul language and imitating the crude antics of a Candadian film (South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut), a peasant girl can soften the angry heart of a beast and fall in love with it (Beauty & the Beast), and a little girl can go to battle against the monsters destroying the forests of her world and win (Princess Monanoke).
These other-worldly and sometimes fantastical realities work best when we sense the similarities of the human condition in their characters -- what drives them; what hurts them; how they react; how they hate; how they love; and how their actions bring about consequences. If we sense truth and reality in these films, revealed through a dynamic plot with accompanying dynamic characters, no matter how bizarre the characters are portrayed, we accept them and cherish them.
With this in mind, I'd like to introduce the uniquely endearing animated film The Triplets of Belleville.
Here is animation unlike modern Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks fare. In fact, it has that old 1940's - 1950's avantgarde travel-ad feel to it, with exagerated details in the human form, landscapes, and building structures; pretty much everything.
In one scene, for example, we watch a ship leaving a harbor. Its hull towers over the city; its propeller, however, is miniscule. In another scene, we see a two-story home that has been overtaken by progress and development. A bridge that carries commuter trains encroaches onto its property. The house, because of this, literally leans to one side, as if it grew away from the tracks like a tree would grow away from what was impeding its growth.
In regards to exagerated details in the human form, the French mafia all have square shoulders and wear black. They look like giant and menacing black boxes with heads and stubby arms. And bike racers are all elongated and emaciated figures with overly-pronounced calves and thighs.
At first, the animation startled me, unnerved me. But I grew accustomed to its uniqueness; I grew to cherish the idiosyncracies of each character, most especially Madame Souza and her dog Bruno.
The story of the film also reminded me of comedies of the old-fashioned silent film era. A young boy by the name of Champion is orphaned. His grandmother, Madame Souza, takes him in. He's a most unhappy boy and we see her watching him intently trying to ascertain what she can do for him to make him happy. One day, she discovers his diary, hidden under his bed. Inside it, she finds cut out pictures of bicycles and the Tour de France. She surprises him the next day with a tricycle.
Jumping ahead fifteen or twenty years, he's training for the Tour de France and she is cycling after him (on his old tricycle) blowing a whistle to keep his pace. To say that she has built her life around trying to make Champion's life meaningful and worth something is an understatement.
After years of relentless training, Champion makes it to the Tour de France. But the French Mafia sabotages Madame Souza's aid van and then, with Madame Souza unaware, they kidnap Champion and two other competitors. But supported by her faithful sidekick, her oversized and cuddly dog Bruno, Madame Souza sets off to rescue her beloved Champion. The trail, sniffed out by Bruno, leads them across the Atlantic to the vast seaport of Belleville. They lose the scent of Champion and become lost, homeless, and confused in the threatening city streets.
When hope seems lost, in walk the famous Belleville Triplettes, who, in their youth, were a glamorous close-harmony act. Now, these three batty old women are a bizarre jazz combo. They take Madame Souza and Bruno in and before she knows it, she is part of the band. This relationship eventually leads these women and Bruno to Champion, kept alive and being used for gambling purposes for the French mafia. Their rescue and escape is great fun.
At the very end of the film, as the triplets, Champion, Madame Souza, and Bruno ride away into the moonlit night, I realized just how fond I was of their story, in all its' overly-exagerated-detailed way.
I don't want to sound like I'm just throwing out cheap movie catch phrases, but I do believe that The Triplets of Belleville is a classic animated film.
And oh ya, I was definitely hypnotized by the jazzy soundtrack, by the Triplets of Belleville.
