The Illusionist (2010) L'illusionniste (original title)

Director:

Sylvain Chomet

Writers:

Jacques Tati (original screenplay)
Sylvain Chomet (adaptation)

Release Date:

16 June 2010 (Belgium)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

A French illusionist finds himself out of work and travels to Scotland, where he meets a young woman. Their ensuing adventure changes both their lives forever.

Plot Keywords:

French | Stage | Theater | London England | Acrobat

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Jean-Claude Donda	...	The Illusionist / French Cinema Manager (voice)
Eilidh Rankin	...	Alice (voice)
Duncan MacNeil	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Raymond Mearns	...	Additional Voices (voice)
James T. Muir	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Tom Urie	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Paul Bandey	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Directed by
Sylvain Chomet

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sylvain Chomet		adaptation
Jacques Tati		original screenplay

Produced by
Philippe Carcassonne	....	executive producer
Sally Chomet	....	producer
Jake Eberts	....	executive producer
Bruno Gaumétou	....	unit producer: Neomis (as Bruno Gaumetou)
Jinko Gotoh	....	co-executive producer
Gap-Hee Han	....	unit producer: Sunwoo
Jung-Seon Hwang	....	unit producer: Sunwoo
Bob Last	....	producer
Jun-Seon Lee	....	unit producer: Sunwoo

Original Music by
Sylvain Chomet

Film Editing by
Sylvain Chomet

Art Direction by
Bjarne Hansen

Production Management
Michael De La Cruz	....	assistant production manager: Neomis
Fiona Hall	....	production manager
Etienne Longa	....	head of production: Neomis
Cristobel Martinez	....	assistant production manager: Neomis
Mayumi Pavy	....	unit production manager: La Station
Christian Ronget	....	unit production manager: La Station
Alexandra Skinazi	....	assistant production manager: Neomis (as Alexandra Francart-Skinazi)
Michael Solinger	....	post-production supervisor
Rhiannon Tate	....	scene prep supervisor
Jacques Arhex	....	post-production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Dutton	....	assistant director

Art Department
Bjorn-Erik Aschim	....	background layouts (as Bjørn-Erik Aschim)
Julien Bizat	....	secondary character design: Neomis
Sylvain Chomet	....	character design
Julian De Mann	....	character color assistant
Sylvain Delcourt	....	character color assistant
Anne Hofmann	....	background painter
Pierre-Henri Laporterie	....	character design (as Pierre-Henry Laporterie)
Marcin Lichowski	....	background painter
Emma McCann	....	character color supervisor
Uriel Mimran	....	secondary character design: Neomis
Pierre Perifel	....	secondary character design: Neomis
Caroline Piochon	....	secondary character design: Neomis
Julie Serviere	....	secondary character design: Neomis
Michael Shorten	....	props
Isobel Stenhouse	....	background layouts
Evgeni Tomov	....	art director: development

Sound Department
John Cobban	....	additional sound effects: ARC Facilities
Carl Goetgheluck	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jean Goudier	....	sound designer
Judith Guittier	....	foley artist assistant
François Lepeuple	....	foley artist
Jean-Paul Loublier	....	sound re-recording mixer
Laurent Lévy	....	foley artist (as Laurent Levy)
Gilles Marsalet	....	foley artist assistant
Xavier Thieulin	....	sound mix technician
Jonathan Martins	....	sound assistant: auditorium (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Pieter Van Houte	....	special effects: Django Films

Visual Effects by
Jean Pierre Bouchet	....	lead compositor (as Jean-Pierre Bouchet)
Aoife Greenham	....	compositor: Django Films
Eoin Greenham	....	compositor: Django Films
Arnaud Henaff	....	compositor: Django Films
Patrick Imrie	....	compositing assistant: Django Films
Ivan Kassabov	....	compositor: Neomis
Romain Khairi	....	compositor: Django Films
Ashraf Kotaal	....	compositor: Django Films
Olivier Malric	....	2d effects
Neil Martin	....	compositor: Django Films
Campbell McAllister	....	digital supervisor
Matt Rochester	....	digital compositor
Jim Round	....	2d effects assistant
Maryam Sharifi	....	compositor: Django Films
Thibault Terrassier	....	compositor: Django Films (as Thibaud Terrassier)
Pieter Van Houte	....	development compositor: Django Films

Animation Department
Laurence Adam-Bessière	....	clean-up artist: Neomis (as Laurence Adam-Bessiere)
Juan Pedro Alcaide	....	assistant animator (as Juan Pedro Alcaide Pizarro)
Valentín Amador	....	senior animator (as Valentin Amador Diaz)
Kenneth Anderson	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Paul Anderson	....	ink and paint supervisor: Ink Digital
Antoine Antin	....	head of animation: Neomis
Bjorn-Erik Aschim	....	assistant animator (as Bjørn-Erik Aschim)
Stephane Baillod	....	modeler: La Station
Olivier Barré	....	head of lighting and surfacing: La Station (as Olivier Barre)
Richard Bazley	....	animator
Rob Birchall	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Julien Bizat	....	animator: Neomis
Jonathan Blair	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Jamie Kezlarian Bolio	....	assistant animator
Franck Bonay	....	key clean-up assistant: Neomis
Daniel Borg	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Jean Pierre Bouchet	....	animatic (as Jean=Pierre Bouchet)
Claire Bourdin	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Benjamin Brokop	....	assistant animator
Harriet Buckley	....	clean-up and inbetween supervisor: Ink Digital
Christina Calles Ruiz	....	animator
Bruce Cameron	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Claire Campbell	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Aude Carpentier	....	assistant animator
Chris Cassell	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Tom Caulfield	....	animator: Neomis (as Thomas Caulfield)
Jose Antonio Cerro	....	senior animator
Roland Chat	....	assistant animator
Farouk Cherfi	....	assistant animator: Neomis
Kevin Kyu-Duk Cho	....	clean-up and inbetweening coordinator: Sunwoo
Sehyun Cho	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Young-Sin Cho	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Il Choi	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Ji-Yeon Choi	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Jung-Ok Choi	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Sung-Woo Choi	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Kyeong-Sook Chun	....	head of clean-up and inbetweening: Sunwoo
Mike Coles	....	animator (as Michael Coles)
Juan C. Concha	....	assistant animator (as Juan Carlos Concha)
Tori Davis	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Hlín Davíðsdóttir	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital (as Hlin Davidsdottir)
Denise Dean	....	assistant animator
Nicolas Debray	....	lead animator: "Alice" (as Nic Debray)
Jeroen Dejonckheere	....	animator: Neomis
Peter Dodd	....	senior animator
Reza Dolatabadi	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Bernard Dourdent	....	animation checker: Neomis
James Duveen	....	animatic
James Duveen	....	assistant animator
Thomas Eide	....	animatic
Thomas Eide	....	assistant animator
Victor Ens	....	lead animator: "Scotsman"
Marc Eoche-Duval	....	animator: Neomis
Nick Evans	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Allan Fernando	....	animator
Ignacio Ferreras	....	animator (as Ignacio Ferreras De Zumarraga)
Kris Findlay	....	imaging technician manager: Ink Digital
Alvaro Gaivoto	....	animator
Manuel Galiana	....	lead animator: "Billy Boy and the Britoons" (as Manuel Garcia Galiana)
Stephane Gamblin	....	head of modeling: La Station
Sandra Gaudi	....	lead animator: "Acrobats"
Ruardaidh Gillies	....	2d effects: Ink Digital
Martin Gornall	....	ink and paint supervisor: Ink Digital
Mael Gourmelen	....	animator: Neomis
Cerissa Grieve	....	lead assistant animator
Chris Hall	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Edward Hall	....	animator (as Edward Hall)
Justin Hall	....	assistant animator
Graeme Hawkins	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Vicki Haworth	....	clean-up and inbetween supervisor: Ink Digital
Seok-Hoi Heo	....	line tester: Guy Movie
Arturo Hernández	....	animator (as Arturo Hernandez)
Bianca Herold	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Ji-Hoon Hyun	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Barry Iremonger	....	assistant animator
Byoung Jin Kim	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Damien Jones	....	assistant animator
Moon-Ju Kang	....	clean-up and inbetweening management director: Sunwoo
Bo-Mi Kim	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Il-Joowng Kim	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Ji-Sook Kim	....	inbetween artist: Guy Movie
Kwang-Min Kim	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Mi-Yea Kim	....	inbetween artist: Guy Movie
Moon-Mi Kim	....	co-head of line test department: Sunwoo
Sun-Sung Kim	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
You-Young Kim	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Young-Kyo Kim	....	scanner: Guy Movie
Geoff King	....	assistant animator
Laurent Kircher	....	animatic
Laurent Kircher	....	lead animator: "Tatischeff"
Kyoung-Ryoung Ko	....	inbetween artist: Guy Movie
Youg-Yoon Ko	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Hyun-Soon Ku	....	inbetween artist: Guy Movie
Katerina Kulendikova	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Veronique Langdon	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Pierre-Henri Laporterie	....	animatic (as Pierre-Henry Laporterie)
David Laverdure	....	3d animator and modeler: La Station
Loic Le Floch	....	head of 3d animation and set-up: La Station
Julien Le Roland	....	animator: Neomis
Gregory Lecocq	....	head of clean-up: Neomis
Gregory Lecocq	....	key clean-up assistant: Neomis
Eun Sil Lee	....	line test department: Sunwoo (as Eun-Sil Lee)
Ho Sik Lee	....	inbetween animation manager: Guy Movie (as Lee Ho)
Hyun-ok Lee	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Kwang-Hee Lee	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Mi-Seon Lee	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Sunwoo
Myung-Yeon Lee	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Suk Bum Lee	....	co-head of line test department: Sunwoo (as Suk-Bum Lee)
Nick Lennox	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Han Jin Kuang Liane-Cho	....	animator
Marcin Lichowski	....	assistant animator
Elio Lischetti	....	assistant animator
Habib Louati	....	animator: Neomis
Wesley Louis	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Ciaran Lucas	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital (as Ciarán Lucas)
Ahmidou Lyazidi	....	3d technical supervisor: La Station
Ahmidou Lyazidi	....	animator: La Station
Alan MacEachern	....	2d effects: Ink Digital
Brigit Maier	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Jérémie Mamo	....	modeler: La Station (as Jeremie Mamo)
Greg Manwaring	....	animator
Javier Martin Lapeyra	....	lead animator: "Billy Boy and the Britoons"
Neil Martin	....	animatic
José Marín	....	senior animator (as José Antonio Cerro Marin)
Gabriel Mase	....	animator
Satjit Matharu	....	senior animator
Gail McColl	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Neil McDonald	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Richie McEnteggart	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Aileen McGibbon	....	clean-up and inbetween production assistant: Ink Digital
Sean McIlroy	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Julia McLean	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Simon McMillan	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Darren McNaney	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Andy McPherson	....	animator
Toni Mengual	....	lead animator: "Young Man" (as Antonio Mengual Llobet)
Loïc Miermont	....	3d animator: La Station
Uriel Mimran	....	animator: Neomis
Jacques Muller	....	animator
Eric Omond	....	animatic
Eric Omond	....	lead assistant animator
Mouloud Oussid	....	animator: Neomis
Melina Sydney Padua	....	animator (as Sydney Padua)
Jamie Page	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Hyoun-Hum Park	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Zhang-Ho Park	....	line test department: Sunwoo
Thierry Peres	....	key clean-up assistant: Neomis
Marie-Cecile Peres-Raccoud	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Pierre Perifel	....	animator: Neomis
Alex Petreski	....	assistant animator (as Alexander Petreski)
Caroline Piochon	....	animator: Neomis
Michael Plummer	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Thomas Pollock	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Gabriela Pruszkowska	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Xavier Ramonède	....	animator: Neomis
Sam Ramsay	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Slaven Reese	....	assistant animator
Christian Retzlaff	....	assistant animator
Sophie Riviere-Baraduc	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Bruce Robertson	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Robert Robinson	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Laurent Rossi	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Sébastien Rouxel	....	animator: Neomis (as Sebastien Rouxel)
Nawell Sdiri	....	assistant animator
Elias Seddiki	....	animator: Neomis
Chris Seed	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Hanae Seida	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Mario Serrano	....	animator (as Mario Serrano Hervas)
Ross Sharp	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Bo-Young Shin	....	inbetween artist: Guy Movie
Michael Shorten	....	assistant animator (as Mike Shorten)
Sook-Ran Son	....	inbetween artist: Guy Movie
Isobel Stenhouse	....	assistant animator
Aya Suzuki	....	animatic
Aya Suzuki	....	animator
Mike Swofford	....	animator (as Michael Swofford)
Sam Taylor	....	animatic
Sam Taylor	....	assistant animator
Aurea Terribili	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Sylvaine Terriou	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Tudor Thomas	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Marcel Tigchelaar	....	assistant animator
Kyla Tomlinson	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Thierry Torres	....	lead animator: "Tatischeff" (as Thierry Torres Rubio)
Yann Tremblay	....	senior animator
Nicolette van Gendt	....	animator
Agnes Varjas-Jean Marie	....	clean-up artist: Neomis
Tara Vaughan-Smith	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Juian Villanua Escalona	....	animator
Mark Wagner	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
John R. Walsh	....	director of assistant animation (as John Walsh)
Charlotte Walton	....	lead animator: "Rabbit"
Leonard Ward	....	animatic
Leonard Ward	....	animator
Mike Ward	....	assistant animator (as Michael Ward)
Sharon White	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Gary Whitton	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital (as Garry Whitton)
Iona Whytock	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital
Paul Williams	....	assistant animator
Beth Witchalls	....	assistant animator
Bob Wolkers	....	assistant animator
Sin-Hye Youn	....	scanner: Sunwoo
Sang-Hun Yu	....	clean-up and inbetween artist: Ink Digital
Un-Young Yu	....	head of inbetweening: Guy Movie
Robert Zwietz	....	ink and paint artist: Ink Digital (as Robert Zywietz)
Paul Dutton	....	animation director (uncredited)
Gerald Gallego	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Katerina Kremasioti	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Ed Roberts	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Toby Schwarz	....	senior animator (uncredited)
Justine Waldie	....	assistant animator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Sandrine Boulet	....	post-production coordinator
Chris Dickens	....	editorial consultant: Mac
Eiko Emersleben	....	assistant editor
Rob Farris	....	digital intermediate producer
Chris Freer	....	assistant editor
Patrick Malone	....	digital intermediate head of department
Rob Pizzey	....	digital colorist
Tim Richardson	....	assistant editor
Pierre Tissot	....	post-production coordinator
Laurent Treherne	....	digital film technical supervisor
Aurora Shannon	....	digital intermediate assistant (uncredited)

Music Department
Niall Acott	....	score mixer (as Niall Ascot)
Rupert Coulson	....	score mixer
Rupert Coulson	....	score recordist
Terry Davies	....	conductor
Terry Davies	....	orchestrator
Terry Davies	....	score producer
Andrew Glen	....	music editor (as Andy Glen)
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestra contractor (as Isobell Griffiths)
Simon Heath	....	composer: additional music
James Lock	....	score mixer
James Lock	....	score recordist
Jeremy Murphy	....	protools engineer
Steve Price	....	score mixer
Steve Price	....	score recordist
Colin Rae	....	music preparation
Malcom Ross	....	musical director: bands
Lucy Whalley	....	assistant orchestra contractor
Stefan Karrer	....	soundtrack album producer (uncredited)
Robin Morrison	....	music editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Anne Beaudic	....	personal assistant
Stuart Brown	....	researcher
Helen Bywater	....	assistant checker
Rosanna Cecchini	....	assistant production accountant
Sally Chomet	....	translator: English
Dee Custance	....	senior production assistant
Hugh De Salles La Terriere	....	checking assistant
Hugh De Salles La Terriere	....	scene prep
Ewan Green	....	runner
Tarn Harper	....	production accountant: Post Sums
David Hepburn	....	facilities coordinator
Anna Hunter	....	researcher
Elisabeth Mrcellet-Fraser	....	checker
Anna Purkis	....	production assistant
Oliver Revolta	....	runner
Jamie Smith	....	runner: Ink Digital
Jeremy Topp	....	runner
Jack Whinnett	....	scene prep assistant
Kyle Whittington	....	information technology manager

Thanks
Tracey Paddison	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Pathé (presents)
• Django Films (co-production)
• Ciné B (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• France Télévision (participation)
• Ink.Digital

Distributors

• Pathé (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Pathé (2011) (France) (DVD) (also Blu-ray)
• Acme Film (2010) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2011) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2011) (Finland) (theatrical) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
• Chantier Films (2010) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Ghibli Museum, The (2011) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Pictures (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Klock Worx Company, The (2011) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Monopole-Pathé (2010) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Paradiso Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Pathé Distribution (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Zeta Films (2010) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Arthaus Filmverleih (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2011) (Greece) (DVD) (blu-ray)
• Castello Lopes Multimédia (2010) (Portugal) (all media)
• Cinema 11 (2010) (Italy) (all media)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore (2011) (Italy) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (all media)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paradiso (2010) (Belgium) (all media)
• Paradiso (2010) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• PlayArte Filmes (2010) (Brazil) (all media)
• PlayArte Home Vídeo (2011) (Brazil) (DVD)
• SP Films (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Sacher Film (2010) (Italy) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sungwon I Com (2010) (South Korea) (all media)
• Videorama (2010) (Greece) (all media)

Special Effects

• Neomis Animation (animation) (as Neomis)
• Ink.Digital (clean-up and inbetween) (as Ink Digital)
• Guy Movie (inbetweening)
• Sunwoo Animation (clean-up and inbetweening) (as Sunwoo)
• La Station d'Animation (technical supervision and animation) (as La Station)
• Django Films (compositing)

Other Companies

• Air Lyndhurst Studios  score recorded at (as Air Studios)
• Angel Recording Studios  score recorded at (as Angel Studios)
• Arc Facilities  additional sound effects
• Ascent 142 Features  digital intermediate
• Auditoriums de Boulogne  sound editing studio
• Canongate Srudios  dialogue recording studio
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Dovidis  re-recording studio
• London Session Orchestra, The  orchestra (uncredited)
• Milan Records  soundtrack
• Missionhall Studios  score recorded at
• Post Sums  production accounting
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Savalas  dialogue recording studio
• Sheridans  legal services
• Studio Guillaume Tell  score recorded at
• Sylicone  foley recording studio
• Technicolor  release printing
• Tods Murray WS  legal services (as Tods Murray)
• Vital Spark  dialogue recording studio
• Wright Johnston MacKenzie  legal services

Also Known As:

"L'illusionniste" - UK (original title)
"Illusionist" - Japan (English title) (imdb display title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements and smoking

Runtime:

USA:80 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English | French | Gaelic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:AL | USA:PG (certificate #45983) | Portugal:M/6 | Argentina:Atp | Japan:G | Brazil:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | South Korea:All | Australia:PG | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Pathé

Trivia:

The pawnbroker's shop is called "Brown and Blair", a clear reference to the last two Labour Prime Ministers of the UK. The shopfront is modeled on the real Duncanson & Edwards pawnbrokers on Edinburgh's Queen Street.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Despite being set in 1959/1960, the Scottish Police motorcycles have 'American-style' sirens, which were not introduced until the 1980s.

Movie Connections:

Features Mon Oncle (1958)

Soundtrack:

Love of Another Man

Animated Simplicity

Simplicity is a very interesting word that is defined in many ways. "The Illusionist" is a film that is synonymous with this word and is a visual representation of the art of simplicity. Nominated for every major best Animated Feature Film award including a 2011 Oscar Nomination birth, "The Illusionist" is more than just one of the best-animated films of the year. Will it win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film? Probably not just because "Toy Story 3" went on a record breaking spree within the animation genre, however, "The Illusionist" is just as good as "Toy Story 3" if not a little better. The film is based off of a script written in the late 1950s by a French, mime, actor, and director named Jacques Tati, but was forgotten about until Director Syvain Chomet picked up the script and ran with it producing an 80 minute animated masterpiece. The film follows the travels of a French Illusionist from town to town looking for work while performing his artistic magician craft in small shows. However, his profession is lost within the changing entertainment era causing him to lose hope, until one day while traveling in Scotland he met a young girl named Alice. Alice changes his life with her belief that he is actually a real magician seeing through the illusion of magic and personifying it into being. The Illusionist becomes a father or grandfather figure to her as they grow together down very separate paths.

The simplicity of the film goes hand in hand with the authenticity and depth of the very easy to watch story. The animation is 2D brilliance with every image on the screen having deeper meaning of some sort. The film uses its filmatic space avoiding lulls and capturing the viewer's attention with its very short run time. This is achieved by the craft of Director Chomet who has created a picture that is so well done it does not even feel like its animated. This can be attributed to cinematography used with the animation. A camera seems as if it is filming the film almost as an alternative reality in a medium that would not of been as effective if it had not been animated. Authenticity is evident even with the minimal dialogue acting a throwback to a simpler era; silent film. It does not rely on its dialogue at all spreading it few and far between, however, when there is dialogue it is true to the setting and the nature of the film. It is in French and guess what? There aren't any annoying subtitles.

For some viewers the fact that the film is in French and that there aren't subtitles (I bet the DVD/Blu-Ray will have the option) it may be very frustrating. Also, this is not necessarily a kids movie. Kids will enjoy the magic behind "The Illusionist", but will not appreciate it as much as adults because of the immense amount of symbolism in the film.

Contemporary film seems to be all about glamor, special effects, and money leading to the creation of hit or miss films. However, film as an art is much simpler than that, which is a metaphor that resonates within the must see film "The Illusionist". Remember simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.