A Town Called Panic

Description

Product Description ------------------- Hilarious and delightfully wacky, the stop-motion extravaganza a Town Called Panic has endless charms and raucous laughs for children and adults alike. Based on the Belgian cult TV series (released by Wallace & Gromit's Aardman Studios), Panic stars three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who share a rambling house in a rural town that never fails to attract the craziest events. Cowboy and Indian's plan to surprise their pal Horse with a homemade barbeque pit goes awry when the 50 million bricks they accidentally ordered online show up on their doorstep. This sets off a raucous chain of events as the trio travels to the center of the earth, treks across frozen tundra (complete with a giant snowball-throwing robot penguin) and discovers a parallel underwater universe of treacherous, pointy-headed creatures. And with panic a permanent feature of life in this papier-mâché burg, will Horse and his equine girlfriend-the flame-tressed music teacher Madame Longray (Jeanne Balibar)-ever find a quiet moment alone? a Town Called Panic is zany, brainy and altogether insane-y! .com ---- Writer-directors Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar spun this nutty feature off their Belgian TV series A Town Called Panic (Panique au Village, 2000). When Cowboy and Indian decide to build a barbecue as a birthday gift for their friend and roommate Horse, they inadvertently order a zillion bricks, rather than the 50 the project requires. The weight of so much masonry causes the house to collapse, and a string of increasingly absurd complications ensues. The stop-motion animation is much cruder than the work in Coraline or Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Even the main characters have only a few articulations, and the directors avoid close-ups, so they don't have to animate facial expressions or lip-synch dialogue. The result feels like something an aspiring film student might make using old plastic toys. Many viewers (and critics) embraced the anarchic humor of A Town Called Panic; less sanguine audience members dismissed it as the animated equivalent of an old Cheech and Chong movie: something that's funny if you're stoned, but isn't if you're not. The extras include a making-of documentary, interviews with directors Aubier and Patar, and an assortment of deleted scenes and tests--more material than such a marginal film really warrants. (Unrated, suitable for ages 10 and older: cartoon violence, ethnic stereotypes) --Charles Solomon P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review ------ Hilarious! Brilliantly imaginative and definitely one of my favorite films of the year. --Christopher Campbell, MTV.com Splendid, smile-inducing fun! --Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer A sophisticated fantasia that adults should enjoy equally. (In other words, it's the perfect family entertainment.) --Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor See more ( javascript:void(0) )