I haven't seen the 2013 film, but I saw the sequel they made a few years ago. It was such a charming film, I really wish more people would have had a chance to see it. I think the more animated features I see, the more I regret that they don't get to be put in the spotlight like the annual Disney or Pixar. C'est la vie like we say, but I wish more people had heard of Ernest and Celestine, or Arco and Amélie for last year's release of french films.
On the last comment from the article about the wealth of graphical styles in France and in Europe, every time I come back to France to visit my family I struck by how many different and unique style you can discover in a bookshop for bandes dessinées. Just coming back from Japan, even the display for the books are quite different: in Tokyo it was just rows of manga on bookshelves, so you mostly see the spines, whereas in France the books are displayed on tables or like albums in music crates, seemingly inviting you to flip through the records so you get a glimpse at the graphical style rather than a title.
Great points! We visited a comic shop in Annecy last year, and what we saw was very similar: the books were displayed to emphasize the images more than the spines (i.e. the series titles). It was a pretty cool experience.
As for European animation needing more of a spotlight, we've been noticing concerns about that over the past few years -- a desire to market/distribute these films to more people. There have definitely been successes in recent times, particularly Flow, and the Oscars are paying more and more attention to Europe, which is great publicity. We're hopeful that the recognition will keep growing from here.
Thank you! And that's a really cool coincidence. We were surprised to learn about the use of Flash ourselves -- just looking at it, we wouldn't have guessed. We also found out this year that Adobe Animate was used for Little Amelie, one of the 2026 Oscar nominees, which is pretty wild. The tools are still going strong!
I'm really late to this but I want to thank you for bringing this movie to my attention. It's next on my watch list. I'm making a list of animated movies I want to show to my daughter when she gets older, and your Substack has opened up a whole world of animation I didn't know existed. Thank you for the work you do.
Flash is such a crazy software, I'm endlessly impressed that it fits into the traditional watercolours so well. Thanks for another great article! And timely too as those concept references will be going on a moodboard for something I'm working on!
Ah, that's really good to hear -- we love it when one of our articles helps a project. So glad you liked it! Very much agreed about Flash, too, even in its Adobe Animate era. We've been surprised time and time again to see the films it's powered (including Little Amelie and Rémi Chayé's Calamity).
The adherence to the original graphical style of the books, even if it’s an adaptation rather than a straight transliteration - everyone draws slightly differently - is what has been lacking in all the film adaptations of Tove Jansson’s work so far.
I hope the new U.S adaptation follows her more minimalist early illustration and not every animated character has to be defined by closed line areas and flat colours.
It's true that the films and shows tend to look totally different from her actual work. Hadn't really considered it before, but even the Soviet Moomin films and the gorgeous Polish series don't especially resemble Jansson's illustrations. We haven't seen any visuals from the Hollywood Moomin yet, but it'd be cool for it try an unexpected, more authentic look along those lines.
The team talked a lot about this element, actually! They mentioned that the original books were a kind of refuge for Gabrielle Vincent and are very warm and idyllic, whereas the screenplay by Daniel Pennac has a sharper edge. The goal with the movie was to walk a line between those two worlds, so that drama and tension could be introduced without betraying the source material. For our money, they did a pretty great job.
We haven't had a chance to see the sequel yet, but we've heard good things about that one as well. So much fantastic animation has come out of France in the past few decades.
I haven't seen the 2013 film, but I saw the sequel they made a few years ago. It was such a charming film, I really wish more people would have had a chance to see it. I think the more animated features I see, the more I regret that they don't get to be put in the spotlight like the annual Disney or Pixar. C'est la vie like we say, but I wish more people had heard of Ernest and Celestine, or Arco and Amélie for last year's release of french films.
On the last comment from the article about the wealth of graphical styles in France and in Europe, every time I come back to France to visit my family I struck by how many different and unique style you can discover in a bookshop for bandes dessinées. Just coming back from Japan, even the display for the books are quite different: in Tokyo it was just rows of manga on bookshelves, so you mostly see the spines, whereas in France the books are displayed on tables or like albums in music crates, seemingly inviting you to flip through the records so you get a glimpse at the graphical style rather than a title.
Great points! We visited a comic shop in Annecy last year, and what we saw was very similar: the books were displayed to emphasize the images more than the spines (i.e. the series titles). It was a pretty cool experience.
As for European animation needing more of a spotlight, we've been noticing concerns about that over the past few years -- a desire to market/distribute these films to more people. There have definitely been successes in recent times, particularly Flow, and the Oscars are paying more and more attention to Europe, which is great publicity. We're hopeful that the recognition will keep growing from here.
Don’t worry i live far far away from any French thing and still i’ve seen both of them around the time they were released
Fabulous!! we were referrring to ernest and celestine for a recent sketch we did :) loves the fact that it was animated on flash!
Thank you! And that's a really cool coincidence. We were surprised to learn about the use of Flash ourselves -- just looking at it, we wouldn't have guessed. We also found out this year that Adobe Animate was used for Little Amelie, one of the 2026 Oscar nominees, which is pretty wild. The tools are still going strong!
I'm really late to this but I want to thank you for bringing this movie to my attention. It's next on my watch list. I'm making a list of animated movies I want to show to my daughter when she gets older, and your Substack has opened up a whole world of animation I didn't know existed. Thank you for the work you do.
Thanks for the very kind message -- this is wonderful to read! We're really happy that the newsletter has been a help.
One of the prettiest and sweetest newsletters to ever la d my mailbox!
Thank you so much!
Flash is such a crazy software, I'm endlessly impressed that it fits into the traditional watercolours so well. Thanks for another great article! And timely too as those concept references will be going on a moodboard for something I'm working on!
Ah, that's really good to hear -- we love it when one of our articles helps a project. So glad you liked it! Very much agreed about Flash, too, even in its Adobe Animate era. We've been surprised time and time again to see the films it's powered (including Little Amelie and Rémi Chayé's Calamity).
The adherence to the original graphical style of the books, even if it’s an adaptation rather than a straight transliteration - everyone draws slightly differently - is what has been lacking in all the film adaptations of Tove Jansson’s work so far.
I hope the new U.S adaptation follows her more minimalist early illustration and not every animated character has to be defined by closed line areas and flat colours.
It's true that the films and shows tend to look totally different from her actual work. Hadn't really considered it before, but even the Soviet Moomin films and the gorgeous Polish series don't especially resemble Jansson's illustrations. We haven't seen any visuals from the Hollywood Moomin yet, but it'd be cool for it try an unexpected, more authentic look along those lines.
I remember watching this movie as a kid
It has this Perfectionism ( i mean in moral values or the great goal of our life) and also something dark but deep inside.
I recognize this feeling now almost in all european stuff for kids( but not in the UK stuff) its very unique for them.
The team talked a lot about this element, actually! They mentioned that the original books were a kind of refuge for Gabrielle Vincent and are very warm and idyllic, whereas the screenplay by Daniel Pennac has a sharper edge. The goal with the movie was to walk a line between those two worlds, so that drama and tension could be introduced without betraying the source material. For our money, they did a pretty great job.
So well-communicated and -researched, conveying artistic flavor and human dynamics, along with facts. I appreciate reading all your topics.
Thanks so much! Wonderful to hear that.
Love this series of films.
We haven't had a chance to see the sequel yet, but we've heard good things about that one as well. So much fantastic animation has come out of France in the past few decades.