Time Masters (1982)

Piel, a 7 or 8 year old boy, is alone on the desert planet Perdide, only survivor of an attack by giant hornets. Calling for help, Piel's father's friend Jaffar keeps contact with the kid ... See full summary »

Director:

René Laloux

Writers:

Stefan Wul (novel), René Laloux (scenario and adaptation)

Stars:

Jean Valmont, Michel Elias, Frédéric Legros

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Valmont	...	Jaffar (voice)
Michel Elias	...	Silbad (voice)
Frédéric Legros	...	Piel (voice)
Yves-Marie Maurin	...	Matton (voice) (as Yves-Marie)
Monique Thierry	...	Belle (voice)
Sady Rebbot	...	Claude (voice)
Patrick Baujin	...	Jad (voice)
Pierre Tourneur	...	Yula (voice)
Alain Cuny	...	Xul (voice)
Yves Brainville	...	Général (voice)
Michel Barbey	...	Igor (voice)
Jim Bauman	...	Lowry (voice)
Michel Paulin	...	Pixa (voice)
François Chaumette	...	Robot (voice)
Henry Djanik	...	Un soldat (voice)

Storyline

Piel, a 7 or 8 year old boy, is alone on the desert planet Perdide, only survivor of an attack by giant hornets. Calling for help, Piel's father's friend Jaffar keeps contact with the kid and hurries across space toward Perdide.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | planet | hornet | outer space | space opera | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

France Switzerland West Germany UK Hungary

Language:

French

Release Date:

24 March 1982 (France)

Also Known As:

Gospodari vremena

Company Credits

Production Co:

Télécip, TF1 Films Production, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The visual style and animation garnered mixed reception. Contemporary Hungarian movie reviewers harshly criticized the French creators' storytelling and Moebius' character designs, arguing that they don't meet the standards of science fiction movies. Members of the general public on the other hand often commented that the art direction was good, but the animation by Hungary's Pannónia Film Stúdió was uneven and poor, and that the studio was probably used because they were cheap. Editor and sound editor Dominique Boischot claimed the film could only have been created at Pannónia, because their animators were very experienced at facial expressions and body language. However, the comments of Marcell Jankovics, one of Pannónia's in-house directors, discredit this notion, as he claims many of the studio's in-betweener animators were in reality really bad at facial animation.

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Quotes

Angel: The creature denies happiness!

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Soundtracks

various songs
Lyrics by Jacques Lanzmann
Music by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre

User Reviews

Highly imaginative

Designed by the great graphic novelist Jean Giraud - AKA Moebius – Time Masters is a fascinating piece of animated sci-fi from France, that is well recommended for lovers of the genre and of the artist. Though the animation looks somewhat primitive by today's standards – though not for 1982, it looks quite better than any American cartoon of the time save Disney's, and don't forget that it wasn't a corporate effort like G.I. Joe or Transformers but an independent film with limited budget – but quickly enough you can learn the look past the rather bulky movements and simplistic faces of the characters and find yourself amazed at Moebius' amazing, seemingly endless imagination and creativity. The film is directed mainly at younger viewers – so it's not as liberated and wild as his more independent comics work or his contributions to Heavy Metal magazine – but his incredibly original vision is all there, in the out-of-this-world designs for the landscapes, the structures and the alien characters. Every minute of the film is a complete innovation in terms of design.

Plot-wise, there's not that much to be said for it; it's an intelligent but simplistic sci-fi story with a nice twist ending, which will, I think, appeal mainly to younger viewers. The characters are mostly simplistic and cartoonish, and largely unconvincing. These are the only reasons why I couldn't give Time Masters full marks; but these flaws take very little away from the pleasure of this film. As long as it focuses on the child character Piel, who is largely unaware of what goes on in the larger picture and is therefore touching and interesting, and not on the flat characters of Jaffar (good and brave for the sake of goodness and bravery), Matton (bad and greedy for the sake of badness and greediness) and the other adults; then it manages to be beautiful and gripping. And when any of the alien races are on screen, be they cute and cuddly or bizarre and frightening, you won't be able to look away. Time Masters is essential viewing for any lover of Moebius' work, and is well recommended for fans of science-fiction and of classic animation, and will surely become a treasured favorite for any of these.