Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12611 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-08-21
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Video Description
René Laloux’s mesmerising psychedelic sci-fi animated feature won the Grand Prix at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and is a landmark of European animation. Based on Stefan Wul’s novel Oms en série [Oms by the dozen], Laloux’s breathtaking vision was released in France as La Planète sauvage [The Savage Planet]; in the USA as Fantastic Planet; and immediately drew comparisons to Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Planet of the Apes (both the 1968 film and Boule’s 1963 novel). Today, the film can be seen to prefigure much of the work of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) due to its palpable political and social concerns, cultivated imagination, and memorable animation techniques.

Special Features
• Anamorphic 1.66:1 (original aspect ratio) transfer • Original French soundtrack with new and improved optional English subtitles • American dubbed audio track (in English) • Laloux shorts: "Les Escargots" and "Comment Wang-Fo fut sauvé" • 28-page booklet featuring a new essay and much more

From the Director
Fantastic Planet tells the story of "Oms", human-like creatures, kept as domesticated pets by an alien race of blue giants called "Traags". The story takes place on the Traags' planet Ygam, where we follow our narrator, an Om called Terr, from infancy to adulthood. He manages to escapes enslavement from a Traag learning device used to educate the savage Oms – and begins to organise an Om revolt. The imagination invested in the surreal creatures, music and sound design, and eerie landscapes, is immense and unforgettable.

Customer Reviews

Animated genius!
Fantastic Planet is a creature very much of its time ie 1973. It is an animated film for adults which, like its contemporary 2001: A Space Oddysey, is a 'trip' as much as a movie. It was surely created with the help of hallucinogens and many would argue that it is best viewed under such circumstances, as it undoubtedly would have been by much of the original audience.

The movie also speaks to a radicalised generation. Despite its quite literally 'fantastic' setting it is very much about revolution. Don't forget that Paris had been in flames in 1968 during the student uprising and Hippy culture still prevailed per se.

The designs for the movie are amazing and the dubbing surprisingly good for a change if that is how you wish to view it. Whilst the animation itself may seem tiresomely primitive to those brought up on CGI, for me it is a reminder of a more intelligent age - Miyazake excepted -when the animated movie could also have soul.

Hypnotic
This 70s animated film has a very special feel and sound. I saw it as a child on TV, and still remember it decades later. Now Masters of Cinema has released the film on DVD with a good transfer, it was interesting to watch it again! If You like animated film and SF, this is well worth buying. But it deviates a lot from animations and anime made today, this is more 70s style and feels more experimental and less mass-produced...or something. My criticism of the film itself is that the ending seems a little rushed ans simplistic. Highly recommended!

Psychedelic animation
I remember this movie when I was a child, then I felt that it was too depressing to watch. Now after many years it's nice to see it again. The movie is very melancholy but still amazing.

The movie itself is 10+ but the quality of the DVD is terrible. The FORMAT IS NTSC not pal I had to watch it with my computer. The (USA)english dub track was interesting to hear, but I prefer the french audio track more. Nice bonus was the soundtrack on the DVD.