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 & 38 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 | belleville | 

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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 film is almost entirely dialogue-free (though there are some spoken words, they are incidental.)

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Goofs

When Madame Souza, pretending to be blind, is following the mechanic, she approaches a junction where there is a fire hydrant, a newspaper vending machine and a pedestrian crossing. In the next shot, all have vanished.

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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

There is a short continuation of the scene where the old lady and the dog hire the pedalo for 20 mins after the credits. It shows the owner continuing to wait for them to return, despite the fact that it has been several weeks since they rented the boat.

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Connections

References Siren of the Tropics (1927)

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Soundtracks

Das wohltemperirte Clavier, Prelude no. 2 in C minor
(1722) (uncredited)
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Glenn Gould

User Reviews

A Very Different Kind Of Animated Film

Here's another film that is quite different from anything you've seen. It animated French film, and this unique artwork is really something to see - astounding in parts. Audibly, it's also unique as there is almost no dialog in here.

The strange story is a simple one: a mother and the family dog go after people who kidnap her son. That doesn't begin to explain the weirdness, however. The son is a great Tour de France cyclist who, along with two other races, is kidnapped and taken to New York City (Belleville). The mother and dog follow and are taken in by three eccentric old singers who eat frogs (I told you it gets weird.). Then, they discover where the son is and the chase is on. The ending, frankly, gets carried away and is the only part of the story that didn't really seem to fit in. It was just too plain stupid and clichéd, dumbing a clever film down..

With almost no dialog, it would be easy to bore the audience but the artwork is so good and the story is told so well with a lot of humor, that it keeps your interest and would be fun to watch a number of times.

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