FANTASTIC PLANET (1973)
(a.k.a. LA PLANETE SAUVAGE)
Article #1506 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-29-2005
Posting Date: 9-26-2005
Directed by Rene Laloux
Featuring the voices of Cynthia Adler, Barry Bostwick, Hubert de Lapparent

A planet is inhabited by a race of giants called Traags and a race of small people called Oms. Though the Traags domesticate some of the Oms, they generally consider them as pests and exterminate them at regular intervals. Then one of the domesticated Oms brings a Traag learning device to the aid of the Oms…

Some movies are so unusual that their flaws become a non-issue. This bizarre, offbeat and fascinating animated movie is one of them. The plot is fairly straightforward when looked at it in its entirety, and the movie has a leisurely pace which goes off on many tangents throughout its running time. Yet each tangent is visually fascinating and shows an impressive degree of imagination, and fully makes use of the possibilities of animation. At heart, no explanation can really capture this movie; it is one to be seen and appreciated. it’s rich on so many levels that it can probably support multiple viewings. I’ve just seen it for the first time, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it again in the near future. It’s a classic of animated science fiction.