Firstly, let me say I am a fan of animation and do enjoy a fair few French films as usually the comedy is brilliant. For example check out The Triplets of Belleville, which is outstanding.As far as animation goes A Town Called Panic is expertly done, so then what is missing, well everything else basically. I wanted the film to charm me but there really wasn't any; wanted to be amused but there was nothing to laugh at; wanted to bond with the characters but found them annoying, and wanted to go on a journey but the plot was just daft.Really, in my opinion, it would have been better shrunk into a half- hour episode and adjusted for children, because essentially that was the only age group I could understand enjoying this.No doubt a lot of effort went into making this, however, regardless, I am still left rather unimpressed.

This is intentionally low tech animation of a high order.A series of absurd, barely connected story-lines shapes this visit to a high energy stop-motion animation world, where the characters all move around just fine, thank you, regardless of the fact that they mostly have plastic bases to which their feet are welded. There's something of old, silent film slapstick here, along with a Monty Python sense of the humor of weirdness. On the other hand, I found it a bit hit and miss. There were certainly many sections that I found entertaining and wonderful, but there were some lulls as well. Some who are familiar with the film's origins (a series of 5-10 minute shorts made for Belgian TV) felt it played better in smaller doses, and I can see that. But still, this is a very inventive, fun, one-of-a-kind film, and that's always to be embraced and applauded.

Like many who have reviewed this film I sat down with low expectations, and like others I did think at the start that the animation was lacking, but after a few minutes I really did get it. I found this to be a wonderful film, and as it has been said by others here I do agree that it is totally insane, funny, and charming.It is like the filmed imagination of a child playing with these plastic figurines and objects around the house, and the crazy and extreme adventures that they would see these toys having. There is a lot of screaming, actually it is pretty much all screaming, which again is like a 6 year old's Super Sugar Crisp fueled afternoon play romp.This is a Belgian film with subtitles, but if there were an English language version of this I am sure that it could be a kid's classic in the US too.

In some ways I dislike giving a film a 10 star rating because that implies that I'm an expert in the cinema and have compared the film in question to the greats of all time finding the film in question to be their equal.Here I can't possibly compare this outing to any other because it breaks the mold with huge creativity. What interested me wasn't as much that it showed incredibly clever for the first few minutes, but that it not only sustained that level of amazement but increased it as the drama / comedy / farce continued. So I am going for a 10 here because in its category of 1, it's a 10. Nothing else in my experience comes close.If you've seen some of The Simpsons more far flung tales, then you have a slight idea of what you are in for here, but this one exceeds the excellent Simpsons in range by a good margin. Remember, the subjects are plastic toys and look like plastic toys, but their story, their setting and their emotions work at many levels. Besides the farcical bizarre adventure, we're treated to a wholly new world which hangs together rather well. If you were a horse living in a normal house what would your shower be like? This and similar questions, with the answer, abound in a constantly amusing barrage of delight.So let me pose a teaser. If you were a thieving merman who wished to attack a horse, Indian and cowboy come to retrieve their possessions, what weapons would you use? Answer about 3/4 through the movie. Here's another - if you were two fat bald scientist practical jokers who could beat up Jet Li, how would you handle a marauding mammoth? Answer at about 65%.See this delight or you are missing one of the great ones.