Eleanor's Secret

Directed by Dominique Monféry, this French Italian animated feature follows seven year old Natanaël, who still can't read. When his eccentric great aunt Eleanor dies, her house goes to his parents and her library to him. Nat discovers that the books are original first editions of classic fairy tales and that miniature literary heroes live inside them. They come to life, declare him their protector, and give him five hours to read a magic spell aloud or they will vanish. Shrunk by a witch, Nat has to recover the books alongside Alice and an ogre while proving himself by learning to read. Alice, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and the Little Match Girl all appear, and Eleanor is voiced by French screen legend Jeanne Moreau. The director's own history is more remarkable than the film: Monféry spent years as a Disney animator, and Roy E. Disney chose him to finish Destino, the legendary short begun in 1945 by Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney and abandoned, which was finally completed in 2003, fifty eight years after it started. The visual design is by celebrated children's book illustrator Rébecca Dautremer. Who it's for: Lovers of hand drawn French animation and of children's films about the pleasure of reading. Who it's not for: Not for anyone seeking narrative invention, since critics admired the visual style while finding the story conventional.