Natanaël, seven, still doesn't know how to read. His eccentric old aunt bequeaths her house to his parents and her book collection to the young boy. Nat discovers that the books serve as a shelter for all the heroes found in children's literature. They are the original characters and are counting on him for protection. For if they leave the library, they will disappear along with their stories forever! When his parents start selling off the books, Nathanaël, who is shrunk by the evil witch Carabosse, braves everything to save his tiny friends
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Reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
I enjoyed this film's artwork and my 7-year-old daughter enjoyed it too. However, I found the main premise - that a 6-year-old boy who isn't yet reading ought to be pressurized into doing so - quite troubling.The reality is that children have a very wide natural time range for learning to read, even wider than they have for learning to walk or talk. Some children learn at 3, some at 12 or 13. The late readers catch up very quickly with early ones, and are none the worse for it.Yet everyone in the film, including the parents, is worried about the boy not yet reading fluently. He's still so little! I loved the references to imagination in the story, and I think it should have focused wholly on that instead.
This was such an enjoyable animated film, with a very a nice story and a pleasant visual style.Even when the story could seem to be a bit simple at first sight, it actually has many wonderful qualities, that made it charming and captivating.I think that now more than ever is a good thing to teach the kids about the marvels of reading and imagination, and about the importance of the stories to be preserves by future generations. In that aspect, this movie did an incredible work, being much better done and more honest that many other movies with a similar message.It is also a very entertaining fantasy flick, with many interesting characters and a good balance of humor and adventure, not to mention the very pleasant visual style that this movie had, making it a nice and delightful animated film for the whole family with lots of heart.I highly recommend it.
I viewed this film with my 9-yr old daughter as part of the 2012 DC Filmfest. We both loved it for its heartwarming story and the outstanding animation. Originally made in French, the version which we saw is entirely in English with no subtitles. Through the generosity of Aunt Eleanor, Nat is introduced to many of the characters of classic literature, such as Alice (of Wonderland), the White Rabbit, Pinocchio, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, and the Little Match Girl. His vivid imagination makes up for being very slow to learn how to read, about which his older sister teases him without mercy. The setting on the beach allows the adventurers to encounter some creatures who add to the suspense as time is running out to save the day. We highly recommend this to be seen with your family.
I love Rebecca Dautremer's drawings. It is especially the drawings that make this film worth watching. The story is fine too. It is about a boy who can't read, but whose aunt always read him stories. When the aunt dies, he inherits her library. Then, the stories come to life and he has to fulfill a quest. If you want to see all those characters, like Alice and the white rabbit, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, giants and witches, in a style different from Disney's, then I recommend you watch this movie. My kids loved it too. They watched it nothing short of three times and were unhappy that I had to bring it back to the video rental store.