Greetings gentle readers, welcome to another installment of The Sunday Morning Movie. Today I have a weird one for you: Fantastic Planet. It’s a beautifully animated piece and pairs well with some high end weed.
Reviews:
Letterboxd says:
-Perhaps one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen. The score combined with the art animation makes for one hell of an experience.
-This is the film equivalent of Salvador Dali doing acid with the Blue Man Group.
-Yeah I probably should have watched this stoned.
-A striking film that explores themes of revolt, oppression, resistance and power dynamics. Fantastic planet is one of those movies you can’t stop thinking about, it’s so trippy, obviously strange but most of all it tells a powerful message!!! The score is beautiful, need to stream everything ASAP and the art style is eerie, making this movie even more memorable!!!! I love love love it
-That was so cool, I love the way this looks so so so much. It’s surreal and strange and beautiful. The political themes are interesting, and the soundtrack is so good and fitting. I love it.
Metacritic says:
-Thirty-five years later, Rene Laloux’s surreal animated film remains a singular psychedelic experience. For the uninitiated, think Yellow Submarine but way more arty, trippy and funky. Highly recommended.
-Director Rene Laloux and his co-writer, illustrator Roland Topor, in adapting Stefan Wul’s science-fiction novel Oms en Serie, have created a surreal nightmare worthy of Dali, one that is filled with seemingly magical phenomena and bizarre and dangerous flora and fauna.
-Between the funky Alain Goraguer soundtrack, the sexy outfits, the surreal landscapes and the heavily metaphorical plot, the film still looks and sounds unlike anything else, either in animation or in sci-fi.
Outlawvern says:
FANTASTIC PLANET (La Planète sauvage) (1973) is a wholly unique experience in animated features. It was made a couple years before I even was, and to this day they don’t make ‘em like this. Soon, though. One of these days it’s gonna catch fire the way anime giant robots did, or fairy tale musicals, or computer animated comedy adventures with a high concept and it’s funny but then it’s serious but don’t worry also it’s still funny, yet surprisingly sweet. Have you seen any animated movies like that? I’ve seen a couple.
I loved this movie since the first time I saw it. It’s not the best written tale for sure, some of the reviewers on Metacritic would agree with this, but it’s so damned bizarre it’s worth the time. The mixture of surrealist imagery, the funky and at times erotic soundtrack, and the sexual themes all combine for an hour plus of oddness. What’s not to love?
Director: René Laloux
Spoilers!
Synopsis:
Set in the far future, humans (now called Oms) no longer inhabit Earth. They have been relocated to the planet Ygam by the enormous blue Draag, a technologically superior race. The Oms were brought as pets but many have escaped and live in tribes on the fringes of the Draag civilization. The Draag love their pet Oms but consider the feral Oms to be vermin. Periodically the Draag carry out cullings, or de-Omizations, to control the wild Om population.
The story begins when an orphaned Om infant is discovered by Tiwa, the daughter of a high ranking Draag official named Master Sinh. Tiwa decides to keep the Om infant as a pet and names him Terr. Terr is raised as a pampered play-thing but with a secret. The collar Tiwa uses to control him has allowed him to listen in on her daily lessons, transmitted to her by a headset. Now well educated, Terr realizes there is a much larger world outside of the Draag home he has been inhabiting. When Tiwa begins to mature and lose interest in him he decides to make his escape and takes the headset with him.
Wandering into an abandoned Draag park, he meets a wild Om who removes his collar and brings him to meet her tribe. After clashing with the tribes high priest, Terr convinces the tribe to use the headset to educate themselves. This allows them to read a sign posted on a nearby wall that warns of a coming de-Omization. The day arrives and while many die, some of the tribe escape and join with a formerly hostile tribe to try to escape the park. They encounter two Draag and a battle ensues in which many Oms and one Draag are killed. The survivors decide to make their way to an old rocket depot to hide from the Draag. Meanwhile, the death of the Draag who fought the Oms has sent shockwaves through Draag society and there are calls for greater de-Omizations.
The Oms live peacefully in the rocket depot for years, studying Draag technology. Their plan is to build rockets that will carry them safely to the moon of Ygam, named the Fantastic Planet, to escape the reach of the Draag. That day comes when the depot is subjected to a terrible de-Omization that utilizes new weapons, killing many of the Oms. Terr and his companions board the rockets and flee to the Fantastic Planet. There they discover large statues being used by the Draag to conduct their strange mating rituals. The Oms destroy a number of the statues and the Draag realize they have underestimated the sophistication of the Oms. In order to preserve their civilization, the Draag end the mass killing of the Oms and a peaceful accord is reached. The Oms leave the Fantastic Planet for an artificial moon constructed by the Draag. Safe in their new home, the two civilizations live side by side, each benefiting from the other’s unique perspectives.
16 comments
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I will definitely check this out in the recommended state.
In the meantime, let me recommend an older, similarly titled movie, “Forbidden Planet” (1956) First, it’s beautiful. The analog artwork is stunning. Second, the cast: Walter Pigeon, Anne Francis, and Leslie Nielson as romantic lead. The star is Robby the Robot. Third, it deals with human hubris and technological overshoot, two of the biggest issues of our time.
Trailer
Saw this in the cinema when it was released, as a double bill with Crystal Voyager- a surfing film featuring a Pink Floyd soundtrack. I was only 13 at the time so I’m sure a lot of the metaphor flew right over the top of my head, it has, however, always stuck with me, especially the visual strangeness….Think it’s probably time for a re-watch. Thanks for the reminder.
Crystal Voyager is also in archive.org so you could do the double bill again.
I saw it as second billing to Zardoz. Yes, psychedelics were involved.
Thanks, I’ll have to get some cheap cider to properly recreate the experience :)
Beautiful choice for today, thanks.
(Though, honestly I hate the Letterboxd commentary.
They write about it leaving me with the impression they actually have no clue what they saw. They can talk about it this way in their kitchen afterwards but please people don’t actually publish your teenage-level talk.)
p.s. For those you have the patience may be watch it in French. The details with this one are so paramount that acoustics of the voices and the lingual qualities matter more than usual may be.
I saw this over 20 years ago, at The Brattle Theatre. Nothing fancy to say, other than that I loved it…a real head trip. Today’s NC post is the only time I’ve ever heard or read anyone discussing the film. Definitely a rare one.
I’ll check it out…
Did it always seem as if Tom Chapin on ‘Make A Wish’ on TV on Sunday mornings circa 1973, was perpetually stoned?
I remember seeing this movie years ago. The same director also made Gandahar (The English version is known as Light Years) which came out in 1987. If you like Fantastic Planet you would also like Gandahar (Light Years).
In my area this film will be featured on August 23, at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland, CA. Not your typical movie venue.
Holey moley!! Eek a beek!! Wotta freek!
I saw this back in’73 with my girlfriend (and fellow avid ‘psychenaut’) at the local movie theater. We certainly smoked up beforehand as a matter of principle and afterwards really bummed that we didn’t have any acid at the time. We tracked some down within a day or two but too late… the film just had a one night stand and we couldn’t find it thereafter. A truly unforgettable experience – I’d even consider learning French to experience the original dialogue. And to top it off, today’s my birthday! “Oh, frabjous day! Caloo, calay!”
Coincidentally I discovered this film a few weeks ago and thought it was great. Always impressive to see ambitious, inventive animators and sound engineers doing their best on very tight budgets and the soundtrack has a great 70s vibe to it like the Parallax View film within a film or Soylent Green title sequence
I saw Fantastic Planet in a tiny art-house theater in Missoula MT in the mid-70s. I was probably 10 or 11 years old. Wow. Just wow. Years later I saw Forbidden Planet in a double feature with The Time Machine. I’ll second the recommendation of Forbidden Planet. The theme of the forgotten or suppressed ‘id’ being the ultimate downfall of a great civilization presages social media in an all too believable way. Plus Robbie the Robot !
We will be checking this film out tonight! Thanks!
I saw this film in ’73. Left a scar on me. Maybe, more a tattoo.
I saw it when it initially came out. Very trippy.