Mune: Guardian of the Moon

A French animated film. It is set in a world where the sun and the moon each have a guardian. The sun is kept in a temple and drawn into the sky each day by a guardian. The moon has its own guardian too. The day of the new selection arrives. The muscular, showy Sohone wins the guardianship of the sun. The guardian of the moon turns out unexpectedly to be Mune. He is small and horned, lives in the forest, and is ready for nothing. The first night turns into a disaster. The sun is stolen and taken underground. From there the film is a rescue journey. A cave, a land of lava, a country of sleep, and an escape. There is a girl with them. Glim is made of wax; she cannot bear heat, and every step of the journey is a danger to her. What the narrative is interested in is not heroism but not fitting: Mune is chosen because he looks useless, and across the film that stops being a flaw. The visual world is its real strength. Two separate regions are built with two separate techniques; the dream section is close to hand drawing and the rest is in three dimensions. The use of colour is bold. There are palettes in the underground scenes that come down almost to a single hue. It is a French production and Omar Sy is among the voices. Benoît Philippon and Alexandre Heboyan directed. Who it is for: anyone looking for animation with original design, and families with children. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a solid plot; the story is familiar and the character development is rushed.