There are more sophisticated animated films out there than A Town Called Panic - but none with the sheer joie de vivre that this Belgian stop-motion-animation entry packs into 75 rollicking minutes.
The film - which opens at New York's Film Forum today (12.16.09) - is the work of directors Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar, who are quite obviously very much in touch with their inner child. They've created the kind of story that a 7-year-old might make up off the top of his head, while playing with a group of favorite toys.
In this case, the toys are a plastic horse called Horse and his two friends, Cowboy and Indian (both the kind of generic plastic toys whose feet are attached to a round base). They live together in a house, next door to a farm owned by a farmer named Steven. They don't really have jobs, though Horse is the one with responsibilities, such as ferrying Steven's farm animals to the local school (in his own car).
There, they are taught music by Madame Longray, a mare with a Rita Hayworth mane who is the object of Horse's unspoken crush. He even signs up for piano lessons, just for the chance to spend time with her.
The minimalist story centers on Cowboy and Indian's attempt to get Horse a birthday present. They decide to buy the bricks to build him a barbecue in the yard. But a keyboard mishap while ordering the bricks online leads to an unexpected order of 50 million bricks, rather than 50. How Cowboy and Indian - both eager for the more mature Horse's approval - dispose of those extra bricks and the fall-out from that plan trigger the rest of the plot.
The film is exceptionally funny, in a random and absurdist way. Characters who ostensibly are adults display the hair-trigger temper of children; animals act like humans, mimicking some of their worst habits. And the story gets hijacked midway through by an invasion of what look like miniature creatures from the Black Lagoon.
The sense of comedic anarchy - that anything might happen - is reminiscent of Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken (though without that show's deliciously dark edge). A Town Called Panic is more innocent; there's an innate silliness at work here that buoys the film - despite the fact that these are all expressionless (read: deadpan) figures. Their faces may not show emotion but the voices do, often the opposite of what you expect.
Though it lacks the kind of advertising budget or studio push given to efforts like Up or Fantastic Mr. Fox, A Town Called Panic is a goofy, witty joy, an exercise in childlike whimsy that will zap adults as well as children. Track it down - you won't be sorry.
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