Triplets of Belleville

Triplets of Belleville may very well be my favorite movie made (almost entirely) in 2d. This film varies greatly from my standard preconception as to what great animation is. Prior to viewing Triplets, I had the idea that there were only two great schools of thought in regards to traditional animation; the first being Disney, the second being Miazaki and studio Ghibli. This film made me recognize that great animation could come from somewhere other than Japan or the states.

The film excels in several regards, all of which I find very relevant to my chosen field. The first is that the movie is very strong from a conceptual standpoint. Triplets manages to continue to surprise the viewer by consistently throughout the film making original choices as to how the film should tackle a particular problem, or convey a certain idea. This is seen in all aspects of the film; Character design is original, aesthetically pleasing, and most importantly is rooted in a functional level. One such example is the henchmen and mob bosses; the henchmen appear as almost a single entity formed of two individuals, they are solid, stoic, and menacing. The mob bosses, alternatively, are much like babies, possessing no real power by themselves. The film plays on this correlation by heightening the joke with baby cries when their henchmen desert the mob bosses.

Another level on which Triplets achieves a higher level of creativity than most films is how the characters solve problems. Mob bosses rig racing bicyclists into stationary bikes in front of projectors, old singers fish with grenades, and a caring grandma uses egg beaters and a lawn mower to tend to her grandson’s sore muscles. The frequency and originality of these actions is so refreshing in an age where 90 percent of all films are an adaptation of something else. Watching this movie made me realize exactly how much potential animation, and film in general has.

One other aspect of Triplets that I enjoyed was that the film was almost entirely pantomimed. The film was mostly silent, and I found this a point which made the films success all that more impressive. In areas where the film could push cheap exposition with dialogue or even narration, Triplets chose to show us everything, explain a child’s yearnings with photographs and a scrapbook found in his room. I suppose the correlation between this film and my media (computer animation), is that triplets sets an example as to how we can be efficient and refreshing storytellers in an age where it may seem at times that everything has already been done.