Review of Fantastic Planet (1973) by Christopher H — 30 Jul 2012
The Terry Gilliam-esque animation is very trippy and goes along with the creepy surreal sci-fi settings nicely. The best part of the film is witnessing the creativity of the animators through the wacky unusual creatures and sci-fi aesthetics. One of my favorite moments was a scene where a weird bat-like creature attacks the human colony and the humans have to take it down. The film also has a tasty avant-garde soundtrack that adds to the surreal vibe of the film.
This film was originally released on a double bill with 'Yellow Submarine', which was another counterculture film released under the guise of a children film. The plot boils down to a 'Planet of the Apes'-like story with a thinly-veiled Cold War undertone. While the animation steals the show, the story unfortunately never lives up to it's potential. The characters are simply boring, and the bland voice acting make the characters seem even more lifeless. Plus despite being an adult animated film, the plot ends up being simplistic-to-a-fault while the ending is a super-cliche "can't we all just get along" happy ending that seemed too good to be believable.
The animation alone makes the film worth seeing but don't expect the narrative to blow your mind.
This review of Fantastic Planet (1973) was written by Christopher H on 30 Jul 2012.
Fantastic Planet has generally received very positive reviews.
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