Fantastic Planet (1973)

I'm not much of a fan of fantasy. A friend, however, brought this film to my attention because he said he couldn't get the story out of his head, and made further comments that piqued my curiosity.

Well, it didn't kill me to see the film and I'm happy to say that it was worth my time – for a number of reasons. First, the mise-en-scene is quite imaginative with absolutely surreal environments that I think owe a lot to the imagery of Monty Python; nothing wrong in copying – everybody does it, anyway.

Second, it's a fairly simple story about the oppression and exploitation of the masses in a fantastic society somewhere in the cosmos. To that extent, it's an allegory for any situation that results in a clash between opposing cultures, different societies and so on. It's given a new slant here, though, by portraying humanity – called the Oms – as the oppressed who are exploited by blue giants, known as the Traag. The plot follows the exploits of one male Om who, after learning all about the Traag, escapes from them to rouse the other Oms to mount a rebellion.

Finally, however, the most intriguing aspect about this film is the clear connection between it and other sci-fi and fantasy films. For example, the discordant sounds in this film are, I think, a direct copy of those I heard in The Forbidden Planet (1957). As noted already, the whole scenario owes much to the Monty Python TV series. And for sure, I think, James Cameron copied the idea of a giant tree sanctuary from this film for inclusion in his epic Avatar (2009). Cameron, of course, reversed the oppressed-oppressor roles of humanity and the blue giants for his story.

Moreover, here's a way-out thought: being a French production and seeing as how the French just love Hollywood westerns, I was amused to see the 'outlaw' Oms run for cover to a tiny hole in a wall – a long, blank, gigantic solid wall – much like how the real Butch Cassidy and his outlaws retreated to what was known as The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang hideout in the late nineteenth century. Too much of a stretch for you? Then think about why the writers here also included a Hollow Bush Gang of Oms who acted as enemies of the rebellious Oms in the Tree of Life sanctuary who wanted to escape from the Traag.

Actually, I also think that The Hollow Bush Gang is a metaphor for the Gang with No Brains, as you will see – in contrast to the rebellious Oms who figured out how to escape from Traag domination. Knowledge, after all, is power and so forth...

And, for something even more off the wall: long ago, Edgar Rice Burroughs (famous for Tarzan and others) wrote sci-fi stories about Mars. In one of those stories, there were headless humanoids that could function only when a head slithered into position between the shoulders. So watch for a brazen copy of that idea in this film.

I guess kids today would find the graphics and imagery quite rudimentary when compared to the current technology of mind-blowing CGI action. Too bad – their loss.

If you ever come across it on TV or on DVD, you could do lot worse with a couple of your hours, I guess. As a piece of cinema history, it is worth seeing; and I'm glad I did.

Give it seven stars for the imagery and overall effort.

January 26, 2012

Fmovies: If when you view this film, you are expecting a simple cartoon, you are in for a surprise and an educational treat as well. The film is called " Fantastic Planet " and is perhaps one of the finest examples of creative journalism ever. It tells the story of Terr (Eric Baugin and Jean Valmont) who's life literally begins on the run. His mother, Indeed, the entire race of fleeing Humans are not the dominate species on the planet. Hardly, the Humans are tiny when compared with the giant size Draags who rule the world. On this Alien sphere, the Draags consider the little humans, whom they call Oms, both charming play toys and at the same time, a pesky, intrusive and troubling nuisance. After losing his mother, Terr is adopted and accepted as a household pet by a female Draag. Despite being little more than a toy, Terr is nevertheless able to learn enough to escape and eventually mature into an adult Om. Later he meets other Oms, one of which is called Tiwa (Jennifer Drake). As time passes, the Oms become so dangerous to the Draags, that they decide to eradicate the entire race of humans. However, the Oms, having become aware of the plan, hurry to find and exploit the Draags' one main weakness. Failure means extinction, success promises to change the world of both. The film is certainly unique and its moral offering is not lost on the thinking and compassionate viewer. Subtitles make for a hindrance, but it's importance message allows it to stand on its own laurels as an all time Classic. ****

I saw this movie a few years ago on the Sci-Fi channel during a movie marathon they were having. Loved it so much I bought the DVD.

Based on a brilliant piece of science fiction ("Oms En Serie" by Stefan Wul). The artwork is stunning, and the story line an original masterpiece.

The plotline of this story is simple.

You enslave a race of beings and take them for granted, one of them eventually learns your language, and unites all his fellow slaves in an organized attack.

Suddenly you've been conquered.

This story line was later ripped off by L. Ron Hubbard and his group of wackos. You might have read the book, or seen the atrocity of a film "Battlefield Earth".

Fantastic Planet fmovies. This film is an absolute marvel. I saw this film as a child, and was instantly mesmerized with the entire concept. Fans of dark animation will hopefully love it as did I. Eerie settings, strange creatures, and an equally hypnotic score all lend themselves to the masterpiece that is La Planete Sauvage.

This is the masterpiece of René Laloux. Was an almost big success in France, was shown only 2 or 3 times in the past 20 years and is now a kind of "Cult" movie for sci fi addicts. This sci-fi movie is far much better than the two other from the same director: "Gandahar" and "Les maitres du temps" (Time Masters). René Laloux always works with great and original comics artists. He worked with "Moebius" Aka Jean Giraud on "Les maitres du temps". This artist is also credited on "Alien" , he created the space suits. He worked with "Caza" an other great comics artist for "Gandahar"

He worked wit "Topor" on "La planète sauvage". Roland Topor is a french artist with a great sense of fantasy. He designed most of all you can see on the screen. The animation was produced in Czechoslovakia because there always have been excellent animation studios in this country, and also because producing in France was far too expensive. This story takes place in the past. It is a metaphor of the man's history. The small characters are called "Oms". This word is pronounced like the french word "Hommes" that means "man". It tell us when man had to leave the original heaven. Man had to fight against his old masters to be independent and free, then he had to find his place in the universe. This is the universal story ... and that's why this movie is timeless (despite the 70s Wha Wha guitars ... ;o)

La Planète sauvage is a fantastic sci-fi movie. The story is great. Its about a planet called Ygam, where human-like creatures called Oms live as pets for a race of blue giants known as the Traags. An Om steals a Traag knowledge device and helps the other Oms revolt. This is just the beginning of this fantastic tale. Even tough the animation is only okay, the fantastic drawings are perfectly suited to this exceptional movie. They are beautiful are alone worth the price(and time) that will give you the chance to see this extraordinary film, but the story is also exceptional. Its hard to find but its worth it.

10 out of 10. An animation masterpiece.