A Town Called Panic (2009) User Reviews

Much better than I was expecting

[Niffiwan · 8/10 · 22 November 2009]

I just saw this at the WFAC. I must say that I wasn't expecting much out of this film. It's a good thing that I went to see it anyway, because it turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival. The closest equivalent to what "Sita Sings the Blues" was last year; though the two films are in many ways quite different, they share between them a wacky sense of humour and a refreshing inventiveness. The story of the film is insane and has to be seen to be believed. This is the kind of story that, as a kid, you wished existed somewhere. It starts out with a cowboy and an Indian accidentally ordering 50 million bricks for the birthday of their roommate, Horse, and goes from there to a visit with the Atlanteans, the centre of the earth, and giant robotic penguins.

The animation in the film is just as entertaining. I'm sure that some would call it crude, but the fact remains that it's very expressive and perfectly suited to this story and these characters. The French-language voice acting is also great.

The film has no great moral or lesson to teach us, but I think it is no less of an achievement to make something that's genuinely funny. The only thing I thought a bit strange was that it seems to go on for a little longer than it felt the natural ending point of the story should be.

This film is in the running for the animated feature Oscar this year, but probably won't be nominated; it's too low-profile and somehow I think that the animation style could offend some of the Academy professionals. But who cares about what the Academy folks think? If you want to watch something fun (even better if it's with friends), I'd highly recommend it.

quirky, different and a lot of fun.

[come2whereimfrom · 8/10 · 13 September 2010]

Imagine a world not unlike Terry Gilliam's Monty Python animations mixed with a dash of Robot Chicken, The Mighty Boosh and finish with the wonder of the mind of a child at its most innocent imaginative play and you are close to the beauty that is 'A Town Called Panic'. Made using stop/start animation using only existing toys it mixes humour and surrealist notions in equal measure. In this world talking horses play piano and fall in love, pigs swim underwater with octopuses and scientists are mental and super strong. The main story centres on the characters Indian, Cowboy and Horse who share not just a house but adventure and after a simple present buying goes bizarrely wrong they embark on a multicoloured toy road trip that will see them visit the centre of the earth, the depths of the ocean and the icy cold of the tundra. Along the way they will meet all manner of beings and get into all manner of situations that are as funny as they are weird. Like a strange mix of Morph, South Park (although for kids it is a PG) and Laurel and Hardy its appeal should reach all age levels and keep young and old thoroughly amused and entertained throughout. An animated classic that's bold, different and magical 'A Town Called Panic' is one crazy place to visit just remember to leave the serious you at the door.

Horse, Cowboy, Indian, Seamonster and Farmer: The Holy Story Pentangle

[thesubstream · 7/10 · 19 September 2009]

A Town Called Panic is the anarchic, frenetic feature film version of the popular Belgian cartoon of the same name. Technically crude but all the better for it, the film like the cartoon is stop-motion animated using what look like (and in some cases are) the cheap plastic toy figurines that came by the dozens in bags, complete with plastic bases affixed to their feet. It stars Indian and Cowboy, two best-friend trouble making goofs sharing a room in a house with the older, more serious Horse. They live in a small village with an angry farmer, his patient wife, their legion of pigs, chickens and cows (who take music lessons from Madame Longrée, the red-maned object of Horse's nervous affection) and a policeman in charge of keeping the peace.

After a birthday celebration goes awry, Horse, Cowboy and Indian are left with a mystery that leads them on an adventure that takes them in 20 minutes from the centre of the earth to the north pole in a battle with bizarre terrorist scientists, to the bottom of the ocean and back. It's riotously creative and thoroughly enjoyable, a kids movie that doesn't pander or play down, with enough solid character-based humour to sustain itself with older audiences over the long haul. It suffers from being a little one-note, especially at an hour plus, that's a small complaint. It doesn't drag at all.

It's also a great example of how creativity, real creativity and a solid, technically sound script can eclipse the need for effects, giant lighting kits, lingering close-ups on beautiful emoting womens' faces and all of the other expensive cinematic "fundamentals" that can stand in the way of a dude with an idea and a hundred bucks and a finished movie. A Town Called Panic is inspirationally small-scale – unless I'm desperately stupid, the total cost for everything that makes it on screen couldn't be more than a couple thousand bucks – but manages to convey a convincing, charming sense of adventure using only wit and effort. It's d.i.y. to the core, and it's inspirational.

Truly wonderful and delightful

[helenandbrian · 10/10 · 7 April 2010]

Saw this on a plane back from Canada and didn't expect much - just struggling to find something to occupy the time.

How wrong I was. Hilarious, totally surreal, laugh out loud funny (hate to think what the other passengers thought of me). Other reviews link this with the Wallace and Gromit series and in many ways, the inventiveness and off the wall humour are along similar lines. The gloriously cheap stop motion animation is a world away, however - Cowboy and Indian, for instance, even have the little flat stand to hold them up like regular children's toys.

Don't take that as a criticism, however- it just makes the whole thing more endearing. This isn't Avatar - this is more like Morph: forget the budget, it's all in the skill of the film maker to tell a great story that's a laugh a minute and keeps you watching. You may struggle to understand what's going on at times, but who cares?

Fun frenzy in classic style.

[mexomorph · 10/10 · 24 January 2010]

Well deserved award-winning directors Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar are to be forever commended for ingeniously and painstakingly creating what can easily be considered one of the top animation films of all time. An adventure/comedy/romance/drama with simple yet detailed & inspired stop-motion animation much like Gumby, Pingu or Henry Selick's work for Burton. So much spirit, charm, wit & creativity culminate into a unique explosion of joy that overwhelms the senses. Every frame is a roller-coaster of activity so packed with inspiration that I wonder what was left out to meet the time limit and when it ended I wanted more. This is destined to become a cult classic for all ages and I eagerly await the multi-talented, award-winning team's next project. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

A hilarious and very entertaining film!

[Red_Identity · 29 July 2010]

A Town Called Panic is simply brilliant! It is very simple, and the film consists of Indian, Cowboy, and Horse's misadventures, but the screenplay is clever and very funny. The biggest worry one has when watching a film like this is that maybe after a while the animation style or loose story- telling technique may get one overwhelmed, I know that was my biggest worry. But There was no need! This film was entertaining from the first second to the last, and it is a very energetic film that never once stops. It the equivalent of a child bouncing up and down because he is on a sugar high. If you expect a theme or very story oriented animated film, look elsewhere. This film is all about the one-liners and the wacky situations, but it was still really amazing for a film like this to be this entertaining. Brilliantly well done, and I think it is better than two other similar animated films, Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Revels in simplicity and jerkiness of stop-motion

[Chris Knipp · 7/10 · 18 November 2009]

(In French, 75 min.) This feature-length stop-motion animation that appeared at Cannes is based on the Belgian TV series by Stephane Auber and Vincent Patar. It's a film all made up using tiny figurines to tell the story of a journey to the center of the earth whre a parallel society of pointy-headed and dishonest creatures reigns. Voices of French actors Jeanne Balibar (The Duchess of Langeais) and Benoît Poelvoorde (of Man Bites Dog) are heard. The filmmakers revel in the jerkiness of the figures in (stop) motion.

You might not know this is the same stop-motion technique used in Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. Auber and Patar have collaborated ( and voice two main characters) in a film that's not only simpler and more primitive in effect (figures even have little stands on the bottom like plaster toys) but more truly uniquely for children. Clearly this cast and crew had more modest means and objectives and motives. They didn't get glamorous superstars to voice the parts and they worked visibly from scratch, bringing to life recreations of kids' little Plasticine toys, a typically mismatched collection including a horse, an Indian, a cowboy, mechanical tractors, a piano lesson, and moving them around on surfaces that could be a village, or could be a train set or a display under a Christmas tree.

These are actually spin-offs from a TV series that Belgian, French, and maybe French Canadian kids would know. They were featured in five-minute films on the arty but widely watched French TV outlet Canal Plus and later dubbed by "Wallace and Gromit" producer Aardman Animations for export to other outlets such as Nicktoons in the U.S.; they can be found on YouTube.

The Town Called Panic effect is much more boldly artificial and crude than the stuffed but charming furry creatures in Wes Anderson's film. This is a thing of slapstick and chases, upended figures and screeches and scrambles. "An antic little joy ride," the Variety reviewer has called it, and that's about right. Shown November 13 at the San Francisco Film Society's 4th Annual Animation Festivial as one of three animated features (the others: Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox and Tarik Saleh's Metropia), it enjoyed a preview at Film Forum in New York the following week, and begins a limited US theatrical release at Film Forum December 16. The feature is not dubbed like the Aardman Animations shorts, which is better to capture the flavor of the original, of course.

Great fun for the young and young at heart

[ufoliveonbroadway · 10/10 · 23 January 2010]

In a cinematic world to often populated by cynicism and anti-heroes, it's good to see that some things can just be fun and good natured for the sake of entertainment. In an age where comedy is declared funny by how much a person yells or acts like a petulant child; and the idea of a solid script and story are thrown out in favor of improvisation, it's refreshing to see a movie that's crafted with care from beginning to end. Trying to explain the plot of this film would only take away from the fun of seeing it unfold before your very eyes. The crudely animated adventures of Horse, Cowboy, Indian and the rest of the town of Panic are full of life and excitement, much more than many of the so called animated masterworks that come out of the USA. It's nearly impossible to view this movie without a smile on your face. Taking elements from classic comedy entertainment such as Bugs Bunny and Warner Bros. cartoons, the Marx Brothers, and a little Three Stooges thrown in for good measure, A Town Called Panic should be viewed and enjoyed by the whole family. Do yourself a favor and see it for yourself.

fun style to start off with

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 November 2015]

Animated plastic toys Cowboy, Indian and Horse live together in the farming town called Panic. They order some bricks but 50 million are delivered. It's the start of a surreal action adventure where the sea of bricks overwhelms the town. They travel a frozen landscape and go under the seas. They return to the town and battle the underwater creatures.

The first act is fascinating. The look of it is so unusual. However the movie struggles for a while. The plot goes nowhere in the first half and basically centers on buying too many bricks. It's fun to watch the toys take showers but it's not very dramatic. The French, the subtitles and the lack of facial expressions make the jokes less translatable.

The last act of the movie is sheer lunacy. It's crazy fun. It's a childish dream play. I think the movie misses an opportunity by ending with a child actually playing the toys. It's the perfect ending for the film. The running time is only 75 minutes. It could have added a compelling 15 minutes to the ending. The first 15 minutes are fascinating. Then it gets a bit repetitive and boring until the final 15 minutes when the movie goes nuts.

An Amazing Work of Art in a Hilarious Film

[Paul-271 · 10/10 · 3 August 2010]

In some ways I dislike giving a film a 10 star rating because that implies that I'm an expert in the cinema and have compared the film in question to the greats of all time finding the film in question to be their equal.

Here I can't possibly compare this outing to any other because it breaks the mold with huge creativity. What interested me wasn't as much that it showed incredibly clever for the first few minutes, but that it not only sustained that level of amazement but increased it as the drama / comedy / farce continued. So I am going for a 10 here because in its category of 1, it's a 10. Nothing else in my experience comes close.

If you've seen some of The Simpsons more far flung tales, then you have a slight idea of what you are in for here, but this one exceeds the excellent Simpsons in range by a good margin. Remember, the subjects are plastic toys and look like plastic toys, but their story, their setting and their emotions work at many levels. Besides the farcical bizarre adventure, we're treated to a wholly new world which hangs together rather well. If you were a horse living in a normal house what would your shower be like? This and similar questions, with the answer, abound in a constantly amusing barrage of delight.

So let me pose a teaser. If you were a thieving merman who wished to attack a horse, Indian and cowboy come to retrieve their possessions, what weapons would you use? Answer about 3/4 through the movie. Here's another - if you were two fat bald scientist practical jokers who could beat up Jet Li, how would you handle a marauding mammoth? Answer at about 65%.

See this delight or you are missing one of the great ones.

i love french cowboys and Indians who live with a talking horse don't you

[rdukeesq · 7/10 · 8 May 2011]

So I just came out of retirement and reviewed the horrible salt. I need a movie that doesn't suck. So I give you the crazy ass french stop motion animation flick called " A town called panic" from 2009. This movie has been described as surreal, i just call it awesome. What I loved about this movie is it made no sense, well so did salt but i hated that, so why did I love this one? Well because it is not supposed to make sense, It is just a crazy film with a crazy adventure that all starts when someone orders way too many bricks and the movie just keeps rocking from there. It is in french so don't watch if you don't like subtitles and don't get an English version, it is animation but I can't see anyone portraying the zaniness of these characters other than the original actors, all though it may be possible. Look if you like to just have good clean fun, or you like to enhance your movie going experience through chemical experiments, or you just love good art that doesn't beat you over the head with how smart it is than kickback and laugh. If you like concise reviews please see my other reviews at http://raouldukeatthemovies.blogspot.com/

A Great Work of Art. A Must See For Any Visionaries

[kurth5959 · 9/10 · 8 July 2010]

I do remember a while back reading an article somewhere about this film, and then I ended up seeing it this week. After watching it, I can tell you that this film is a fantastic piece of art. The stop motion is incredible, and displays a professional and unique quality throughout. The character development is surprisingly great. Horse serves as your typical father/leader figure, while Cowboy and Indian are his somewhat cocky sidekicks, which leads to a great plot. Steven is especially my favorite secondary character for his often times violent and hilarious outbursts, which is great comic relief. Sure, there are some plot holes here and there, but this movie isn't very plot based. However, it is a great slapstick comedy in every way. I've never seen anything quite like it before. And to also note, this movie is perfect in French. I had no problem at all reading the subtitles, and made the movie seem that much more sophisticated. Dubbing this film in English would really destroy most of the dialog, which is also great. In a nutshell, this was a pleasant surprise, and I would recommend it to anyone who basks in the strange and ordinary.

That's alotta bricks.

[ElijahCSkuggs · 7/10 · 9 July 2010]

Horse, Cowboy and Indian are on the chase after some aquatic monster people who've stolen their house walls. Churn in a love story with an equine pianist, a spastic farmer, and a slew of other high-energy characters and you have the makings of A Town Called Panic. Oh, and to make it even extra crazy, it's French!

First things first, do you really want to see this movie? It's a French animated film done in a similar style to Robot Chicken. Does 70+ minutes of a toys running around screaming at one another sound like fun? Yeah? Bien! You're well on your way to watching a movie you'll most likely enjoy. If you're not a fan of Robot Chicken, French humor, or high doses of jittery joy, then move along.

I was pretty amped to check this baby out. But I was not prepared for the frantic pace the movie had. This is a warning here. Expect a movie that moves at a very past pace. Characters are moving and talking non-stop. Keep your eyes and ears open. Honestly, about 15 minutes in I was losing patience with the film, and feeling as if I wasn't going to like it very much. But once the main story arc kicked in and more feverish imagination took hold, I was catching myself enjoying it more and more. And by the end, I was plenty happy with what I just watched.

So take a little bit of advice from me. You'll see plenty of people expressing it's for the whole family, and it's a wonder and a joy, and all this great stuff. This flick could be watched by the whole family (though I think there is a couple swear words - that is, if you're little ones can read the subtitles, or your French), but this film isn't really very accessible. It's a unique and electric film that's fun, but I can easily see many a people saying it was just too much.

Arguably The Worst Movie I Have Seen This Year

[SteveBVa · 3/10 · 14 February 2010]

The production quality while perhaps artsy to some was tedious throughout this movie, the "plot" was, well, there wasn't a plot to speak of, just a continuous loop of unfunny sight gags and repetitive scenes of destruction. I cannot for the life of me think of a demographic group to which this film appeals, though clearly, I am not in it.

The movie was exhausting to watch...though endure might be a more appropriate word.

Perhaps if I were a Belgian child and lived a very sheltered life in which I was unfamiliar with animation, plots and story lines, I would have felt differently about this film. However, I am not.

Surrealist stop-motion joyride

[Lanoshome · 8/10 · 27 January 2010]

Hilarious, bizarre, entertaining. The sense of humor is quirky and fresh. However, some of the characters and plot elements are a bit simplistic and it's not a particularly "polished" work. These could easily be conscious choices, as the simple characters and plot are easily twisted to create the film's comedic wackiness, and the choppy animation adds to this atmosphere. But overall the work could appear somewhat amateurish, so I'm not sure it's "good enough cinema" to get more than 8 stars... but on the whole, I was thoroughly entertained! This is a fast-paced animated adventure story not specifically for kids nor specifically for adults, but simply for anyone ready to suspend belief and laugh for an hour and a half. NB: The humor definitely comes off even better if the viewer speaks the original French, and does not have to read the subtitles, but even my friends who don't speak French thought this was very funny.

"Panic" Stricken...And That's A Good Thing

[happipuppi13 · 10/10 · 9 May 2011]

I've seen some wildly funny animated movies before but I have no doubt that this one tops them all.

A very noticeable new addition to my local library's shelf,I decided to give it a look last night. I can honestly say it takes a really funny film in the animated genre,to make me laugh over 90% of the time.

A toy horse who owns his own home,has his own PC and automobile and lives with two very irresponsible roommates,a toy cowboy and an Indian. They turn "Horse's" world upside down when they decide to build Horse a brick barbecue for his birthday.

They go online to order the 50 bricks they need and accidentally end up ordering 50,000,000! From this point,nothing but unbelievably hilarious insanity takes place. Not just with these three but their neighbors as well. I wont give away to much but that one mistake leads the rest of the residents into a world of chaos and confusion.

The stop action is done very well here and the story reminds me of those writing projects they'd give us in school as kids. It seems like something one would make up as they go along,until they come up with a finale not expected.

I didn't have any problem that it was in French and even without sub-titles,I'd have still found it funny. I recommend this for people ages 12 and up.

There's some mildly bad language and scenes at a party of some of the guests getting drunk and a little violent,but it's PG violence at best. The rest is completely watchable.

10 out of 10 from me and let me say if you don't like sub-titles,don't panic.....just learn to speak French or just try to follow along. {END}

Panic Attack

[loganx-2 · 7/10 · 9 May 2010]

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy's, book within the book begins with the phrase "Don't Panic", because the universe is a dizzying, dazzlingly complex place, that to take it all in at once could result in hyperventilating, existential angst, or spasmodic fits of fear and trembling, and before reading it in book form it's important to take a breath and relax. "A Town Called Panic" does not invite any moments of calm or temperance, or respite from the chaos of the world, instead in revels in its absurd animated mania that would not feel out of place on Adult Swim or Saturday mornings.

. It is defiantly ridiculous, and never offensive, mean, or crude. In a dayglo town, we see old toys moving of their own accord. Toys from a time before action figures, when plastic figures stood on mounted bases and lacked bendable limbs.

A town called "the town", houses a postman, a policemen, a musical school, a farmer, his wife, and their animals (who attend the musical school), and a horse, an Indian, and a cowboy. The later are the films heroes here making their big screen debut from Belgium produced animated series with the same name as the film. The trio forms a strange family, with the Horse heading the household, driving, the car, handling the finances, etc, with Cowboy and Indian as the two young impish tricksters getting into various shenanigans.

The action begins when the boys realize they have forgotten Horse's birthday, and decide at the last minute to build him a barbecue. The boys make a slight snafu when instead of ordering 50 bricks they have delivered 500,000 bricks. The best scene a drunken party takes place early on, but where I expected the film to dip after the 20 minute mark, it kept delivering taking us into the center of the earth, into a Penguin shaped mobile Artic…"research"…station, and an undersea kingdom located directly beneath the town. Horse in love with the school's music teacher only wants to get back to his lesson in time, but instead they chase a merman through a series of wacky encounters.

This was one of the few films that was screened twice during AFI fest and I only caught the 2nd screening on the last day of the festival. The director wasn't there, but in place there was someone from the Belgium consulate who said that though he had not seen the film he had been assured by everyone who had that it followed in Belgium's unique tradition of cartoons, comics, and sense of humor. He spoke with a vague craftiness more like a producer than a diplomat, but perhaps there is not much difference in the two. In fairness all of the characters did seem to survive of a daily diet of fresh waffles (even the mermen).

The show has been on since 2003 in 5 minute segments, and given their previously limited time, it's impressive they can develop a full feature that never sags once. Though many have referred to the film as stop-motion, it is actually a process called puppetoon, where instead of a single figure photographed and repositioned and photographed again, according to wiki,"…the puppets are rigid and static pieces; each is typically used in a single frame and then switched with a separate, near-duplicate puppet for the next frame. Thus puppetoon animation requires many separate figures. It is thus more analogous in a certain sense to cell animation than is traditional stop-motion: the characters are created from scratch for each frame…". Though the effect is light, the production seems painstaking.

"A Town Called Panic" is delightful lo-fi animated film, that doesn't aim to impart any kind of moral or lesson, but recreate a Chuck Jones's "Looney Toons" like free range explosion built of escalating absurdity and stacking gags on top of gags in a Tower Of Babel to cartoon comedy heaven. It doesn't quite reach these epic levels, but it's a fun film that I could imagine watching episodically week to week, late on a foggy night or over breakfast cereal the day after (or breakfast cereal later that night).

Enjoyable for the uninitiated (like myself), and probably more of a treat for fans. At 75 minutes it's a breezy watch, rewarding in easy cheer and quirky charm. Along with "Ponyo" this is one of my favorite animated films of the year, and makes clear the point that there are still open avenues available to animators who want to work outside the CG universe.

Great fun

[jayowen-3 · 8/10 · 19 July 2009]

It does exactly what it should do. It entertains you for an hour and a quarter, it makes you laugh often enough for you to forgive the slight gaps in the storyline, the story is nice and funny,... The characters are very well created, the animation is perfect. The only major problem is the end. It gets kind of boring for the last 20 minutes. Which is a pity cause it keeps you entertained right from the start then drops it at the final hurdle. But all in all, a very nice little family comedy, and some of the best to come out of Belgium in a long time. PS: It's in French/Dutch, so for ''English-only'' speakers, take a dictionary or don't watch it.

=P 8/10

A lot of fun...but perhaps a bit over-long.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 August 2017]

Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar are genius animators from Belgium. Their genius was obvious with the amazing and touching feature, "Ernest and Celestine"...and it was so good it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. "Frozen" won the statuette...and is proof that in this case the Oscar folks were looking at ticket sales and not originality or quality...."Ernest and Celestine" was THAT good. I have also seen a super-weird short from the pair, "La Bûche de Noël"...a very strange and funny stop-motion picture that made me laugh. Well, it turns out the same characters from "La Bûche de Noël" also appeared in an earlier full-length film...one worth seeing, "A Town Called Panic".

Like the follow-up, "La Bûche de Noël", this one is stop-motion and features the same three characters...Indian, Cowboy and Horse. They all look like children's toys but unlike the plastic soldiers and cowboys of yesteryear, these ones bend and move about on their plastic bases. Cowboy and Indian are both complete idiots and Horse is the long-suffering friend whose life seems to revolve around getting them out of trouble...trouble they brought upon themselves! In this case, it all begins when Indian and Cowboy order 50 bricks online so they can build Horse a BBQ. But, because they are stupid, they end up ordering 50,000,000 bricks! What's next? Well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you!!

The film made me laugh and seemed a bit like a movie made by some very precocious children. However, the pacing was a bit of a problem...and because of that I actually prefer the follow-up short. Still, well worth seeing...especially if you want to see something very original.

Everything I wanted.

[noahgibbobaker · 9/10 · 21 October 2020]

I don't really have anything to say about panique au village, without spoiling it. It's not a profound film that will have you rethinking your life, it's a hilarious absurdist comedy that I would love you all to watch if you get that chance.

My favourite thing about a town called panic is how animation is utilised. Using this style creates so many unique opportunities for a completely insane story and ridiculous sight gags which are presented in such a funny way.

The presentation is also one of the best parts of the movie. Everything is shown in such a funny way, in a different comedy movie a lot of these scenes would never be as funny as they are because of the way most films in general are presented.

Anyway that's genuinely everything I have to say about a town called panic. I really love it and highly recommend it to everyone.

Pony panic!

[rbnlrk · 7/10 · 7 January 2022]

This must be the French prequel to Equestria Girls. We follow Horse and his human friends and animals onm a journey after getting their house blown down. It is frentic but funny and a must watch for people who wants a break for Hollywood cartoons, and also something for alternative rock fans too. If you and your family want something fast and furious in an hour stream this.

Very odd, surreal and often charming and funny

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 7 July 2011]

This is intentionally low tech animation of a high order.

A series of absurd, barely connected story-lines shapes this visit to a high energy stop-motion animation world, where the characters all move around just fine, thank you, regardless of the fact that they mostly have plastic bases to which their feet are welded. There's something of old, silent film slapstick here, along with a Monty Python sense of the humor of weirdness.

On the other hand, I found it a bit hit and miss. There were certainly many sections that I found entertaining and wonderful, but there were some lulls as well. Some who are familiar with the film's origins (a series of 5-10 minute shorts made for Belgian TV) felt it played better in smaller doses, and I can see that.

But still, this is a very inventive, fun, one-of-a-kind film, and that's always to be embraced and applauded.

weird and wild and quirky... maybe too quirky

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 28 December 2009]

It's been a surprising year for stop-motion animation, and A Town Called Panic can have a seat at the table with the two giant achievements of the year, Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox. What it shares with those films is a sensibility that is not quite like anything we've seen before. We may be familiar with the jerky quality of stop-motion animation, how creatures in one scene will look not quite right but somehow it all fits for the look and the story that it's being told with. In the case of A Town Called Panic, which takes characters named simply 'Horse', 'Cowboy' and 'Indian' and makes into a delirious comedy like Wallace and Gromit gone French and super-playful. This is some kind of child's imagination made into a 75 minute cartoon spectacle of feverish intensity and ridiculous absurdity. Maybe too ridiculous, actually.

Oh, it's charming for most of its running time, and the directors Aubier and Patar make this into something that, for at least the first ten minutes or so, had me giggling and smiling in anticipation for what might happen next, what craziness Indian and Cowboy would somehow get themselves into in trying to get Horse's birthday off the ground. I wonder if it's meant to really work in smaller doses; before this years ago it was a TV show (clips can be found on youtube) and it's really the kind of storytelling, not even so much animation, that's meant for short bursts of cartoonish energy ala Looney Tunes (and, again, Wallace & Gromit).

At its best, this loose story around a brick barbecue present that spirals into 50 million bricks, thieving aquamen, a robot penguin with missiles, and horses that become piano masters, has its moments. But for me it just shoved so much in without really having anywhere to go in 75 minutes of screen time (which is saying something). There are also characters that are frustrating in how little they're given to do, like the farmer Steve who screams EVERY LINE LIKE THIS (though he can go through a piece of jam-toast fast). It's like forced whimsy, and an eccentric sensibility that is hard to dismiss but never gives a moment to let the audience and characters breathe - a key matter to how Selick and Anderson got through the madness of their comic narratives.

I'm also not too sure, by the end, if the film really works better for kids or adults. At the screening I attended a few kids were present, but it was mostly college aged kids (some hipsters as well perhaps) who were there to look wide-eyed and have a laugh with the cheap plastic toys on intentionally cheap but clever sets in various mishaps. There's nothing terribly offensive to keep kids away, but I'm not sure if kids will keep up with it, or the French dialog with English subtitles. It's a very peculiar film, one that may work in smaller doses on video. In one shot its amusing, manic, stupid, glorious and very French.

A Non-Stop Sugar-Rush Of Frenzied Panic

[strong-122-478885 · 4/10 · 17 August 2014]

To me, A Town Called Panic was something like witnessing the off-kilter, nightmare world of a hyperactive child who was clearly overdosing on a massive sugar-rush. And in this hellish state the delirious child was plunged headlong into a claustrophobic nether-land of plastic-toy figurines.

(Believe me, as an onlooker, this was not a pleasant vision to behold)

Unlike Pixar's 'Toy Story', where toys were generally treated with a certain amount of regard and respect, this 'toy story' seemed to me to be hellbent on showing endless ways of damaging and, yes, destroying children's playthings.

This truly bizarre and quirky stop-motion picture left me with too many unanswered questions, such as -

Why did these plastic figurines need to sleep?

Why did Indian want to build a barbecue for Horse? (I thought that all of these figurines (men & animals, alike) were on equal terms with each other and the act of eating one another was unthinkable)

With 5 million bricks at their disposal, why did Cowboy make such a ridiculous fuss and go to so much trouble to get their walls back?

Anyways - I certainly can't argue that some of the stop-motion animation was actually quite imaginative and amusing. But, before long, "Panic" inevitably lost its initial novelty and appeal. This was mainly due to the sheer nuttiness of a disjointed story which carried its situations too far to the extreme.

(This picture could have also stood for a 20-minute haircut)

I guess, when it comes right down to it, there just doesn't seem to be enough of a child's wonder and awe still left inside of me, so I was not able to find any real enjoyment in "Panic" as, it seems, so many others have.

Laughed so hard I nearly choked myself.

[eatfirst · 9/10 · 14 September 2012]

A manic, ADHD suffering, surreal, stop-motion masterpiece, delivered by the team behind the Cravendale Milk ads... from Belgium.

A horse, a cowboy and a red-Indian live together, argue over the shower, order a bazillion bricks, get stuck in traffic, stake out their own walls, do battle with underwater aliens, get abducted by a snowball throwing mega-penguin, and play cards while falling to the centre of the earth. Then things get really strange.

Apparently animated using a tub of plastic toys by a bunch of Ritalin dodging five-year-olds on a Sunny-D bender, A Town Called Panic is not the most coherent of films, but it is brilliantly inventive and frequently ball-achingly funny.