From the moment the film was submitted, it was clear that Ernest & Celestine was a shoo-in for Best Animated Feature –the French export stands out from its many CG contenders with a combination of beautiful hand-drawn, watercolor style and universal appeal. (Our TIFF review described it as a “graceful 2-D animation film that is able to captivate both children and adults.) With less than a month before the Oscars, and almost a year and a half since we last got a look at the work , a new trailer hit the web to introduce its newly added English vocal talent.
Directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier, the story follows an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and the young mouse Celestine, which turns their respective worlds upside down. Forest Whitaker plays Ernest, albeit with a bit more huskiness, while child actress Mackenzie Foy lends her voice to Celestine. Also in the cast are Lauren Bacall, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally, Paul Giamatti, Nick Offerman, and Jeffrey Wright. See trailer and synopsis, courtesy of iTunes, below:
Synopsis:
Deep below snowy, cobblestone streets, tucked away in networks of winding subterranean tunnels, lives a civilization of hardworking mice, terrified of the bears who live above ground. Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer—and when she nearly ends up as breakfast for ursine troubadour Ernest, the two form an unlikely bond. But it isn’t long before their friendship is put on trial by their respective bear-fearing and mice-eating communities. Ernest & Celestine joyfully leaps across genres and influences to capture the kinetic, limitless possibilities of animated storytelling. Like a gorgeous watercolor painting brought to life, a constantly shifting pastel color palette bursts and drips across the screen, while wonderful storytelling and brilliant comic timing draw up influences as varied as Buster Keaton, Bugs Bunny, and the outlaw romanticism of Bonnie and Clyde.
Ernest & Celestine opens in theater on Feb. 28th.
Do you think Ernest & Celestine could win the Oscar?