A Monster in Paris

Bibo Bergeron’s film is not simply French but a France-Belgium co-production; Luc Besson produced it and part of the budget came through the Belgian tax shelter. The drowned city behind the action is not invented either: it is the great Paris flood of 1910. The dubbing order runs backwards. To make the film easier to sell in English-speaking territories, co-producer EuropaCorp had the English voices recorded before the animation, in Los Angeles, with Bergeron supervising the casting; the French voices were taken once the film was finished. Vanessa Paradis is the only performer in both casts, voicing Lucille in each. The design feeds off the voices: the flea Francœur takes his look and gestures from Matthieu Chedid and Lucille hers from Vanessa Paradis, who voice them in the French version, while Francœur’s disguise comes from cabaret singer Aristide Bruant’s stage costume. The awards line is thin: at the 37th César Awards it was nominated for Best Animated Film and Best Music Written for a Film, and won neither. A good fit if you accept an animated feature that puts its weight into songs and period design. Not for anyone wanting a sturdy plot; in Le Point, Florence Colombani praised Bergeron’s aesthetic sense but found the story thin and the dramatic structure too weak to hold the viewer.