The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.

Director:

Sylvain Chomet

Writer:

Sylvain Chomet

Stars:

Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 39 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Claude Donda	...	Le Géneral de Gaulle / Les commentateurs Sportifs / Le clochard / les Réclames (voice)
Dirk Denoyelle	...	Les commentateurs Sportifs / Le clochard (Dutch version) (voice)
Monica Viegas	...	Madame Souza (voice)
Graziellia de Villa	...	Madame Souza (Englsh version) (voice)
Michel Robin	...	'Champion' adulte (voice)
Noël Baye	...	'Champion' adulte (English version) (voice)
Suzy Falk	...	Triplette (voice)
Michèle Caucheteux	...	Triplet #3 (voice)
Nicole Shirer	...	Triplette (voice)
Germaine Charest	...	Triplette (voice)
Helen Wambolt	...	Triplette / Singing voice (voice)
Evelyn Snow	...	Triplette / Singing voice (voice)
Ron Séguin	...	Triplette / Singing voice (voice)
Helga Van Der Heyden	...	Additional voice (voice) (as Helga Van der Heyden)
Jeron Amin Dewulf	...	Additional voice (voice) (as Jeron Dewulf)

Storyline

Madame Souza, an elderly woman, instills in her grandson Champion (for who she acts as his guardian) a love of cycling. As a young man, he does become a dedicated road racer with his grandmother as his trainer. During a mountainous leg of the Tour de France in which Champion is racing, he goes missing. Evidence points to him being kidnapped. Indeed, he and two of his competitors were kidnapped, the kidnappers who want to use the threesome's unique skills for nefarious purposes. With Champion's overweight and faithful pet dog Bruno at her side, Madame Souza goes looking for Champion. Their trek takes them overseas to the town of Belleville. Without any money, Madame Souza and Bruno are befriended and taken in by three eccentric elderly women, who were once the renowned jazz singing group The Triplets of Belleville. The triplets help Madame Souza and Bruno try to locate and rescue Champion.

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Plot Keywords:

tour de france | mafia | dog | very little dialogue | lawnmower | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for images involving sensuality, violence and crude humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pianist Mme. Souza and young Champion are watching on television is a caricature of the famous Canadian virtuoso, Glenn Gould, known for his piano interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard works and for the fact that he would hum along as he played the piano (which can be heard in the film).

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Goofs

When the two waiters are running to the Mafia in the restaurant, the left-hand waiter's hair color is black, but in the next take his hair is gray.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Madame Souza: Is that it, then? Is it over, do you think? What have you got to say to Grandma?

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Crazy Credits

After the credits have rolled we see the Pedalo rent guy waiting on the beach, looking out to sea and checking his wrist watch.

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Connections

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004)

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Soundtracks

Piaf Song
Lyrics and music by Sylvain Chomet
Performed by Béatrice Bonifassi

User Reviews

Pixar yes, but here's OTHER Animation

What a wonderful gem of work this is, and I am glad that it was done RECENTLY.

In a time when Pixar is setting the standard for "animation", here comes a film that makes you remember why you liked animation in the first place. This is a wonderful technique film, a study of art film, an abstract film, a joy to watch. The story might be a bit complicated for most to keep up but the beauty of it is - it's complexity. The grandmother was wonderful as well as the dog and the cyclist -- but what blew me away was the overdrawn charatures of the characters.

And there will be no more "frogs" for me, ladies! :)

A deserved USA Oscar nomination. In a Pixar world, bring on more like these to keep the balance too!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Russia]

Country:

France Belgium Canada UK Latvia USA

Language:

French Portuguese English

Release Date:

13 February 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Triplets of Belleville

Box Office

Budget:

$9,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$108,080, 30 November 2003

Gross USA:

$7,007,149

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,776,760

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Armateurs, Production Champion, Vivi Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 80 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1