Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Ernest and Celestine is beautiful to look at, but failed to impress me in any other field. Ernest and Celestine is the creation of french directors Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, and Benjamin Renner. The first two are also the directors of one of my favorites, A Town Called Panic. A Town Called Panic is a great movie, which I can't say the same for about Ernest and Celestine.Ernest and Celestine looks great. Each frame looks like a children's drawing. Lots of character is communicated through the animation of characters. Every character also feels real by almost every movement having an effect on the environment, such as sound effects, a responding character, or the environment. The biggest reason Ernest and Celestine doesn't work as well is it takes itself much more seriously. This could be good or bad, but the movie has parts that are hard to describe other than dumb. Can't really describe any without spoiling, but one example is a series of conveniences towards the end to bring the movie to a happy conclusion. Many such conveniences are in A Town Called Panic, but since it doesn't take itself seriously you can laugh at the stupid parts rather than be bothered by them. The movie tackles the subject of prejudice, but it does so in a black and white way. Where all of the prejudiced characters have no reasons, real or imagined, to separate one another. I found the predictability of how it would develop disappointing, because A Town Called Panic always surprised me.All that said, none of my complaints are anything that should stop you from showing your kid this movie. The voice acting is good, and the characters likable. I thought Ernest and Celestine was very good with issues that stop me from calling it great. I would recommend Ernest and Celestine to adults and children alike, but I most likely won't revisit it soon.

This film was nominated for the Oscar for Animated Feature. There will be spoilers ahead:This is a beautiful film about a most unlikely friendship between a mouse and a bear. Mice are taught to fear and hate bears and bears are similarly taught to do the same with mice. But Ernest is not a typical bear and Celestine is no ordinary mouse. Both are a bit out of step with their own world, but remarkably good as a pair when they come together. They complement one another and they are both artists.Ernest is basically a very large and furry kid at heart, given to very simple reactions to pretty much everything, unless he's playing music-and even there, he has a playful side, as shown by his busking early in the film. He inadvertently helps Celestine out of a jam, has designs on eating her, but she points him towards candy, a much better treat than one tiny mouse.Ernest, in turn, winds up in trouble, to have Celestine help him out. One thing leads to another and they both wind up in deep trouble and hiding out at Ernest's house, where they develop a bond together.Everything is wrapped up in a most intense closing series of scenes which teach tolerance, the true value of courage and the strengths of friendship. It's a truly heartwarming film.This is available on Blu-Ray and DVD and is well worth watching. Most highly recommended.

This was an academy award nominee amongst The Wind Rises, and the overrated Frozen, and unfortunately wasn't available to me around the time of the ceremony. But after watching it, I'm starting to think perhaps I should have a stronger interest in French cinema. For in the movies I've seen thus far from the country, they all have a beautiful complexity, even when a horror film like Martyrs, which perhaps solely comes from being too accustomed to America cinema. Leading to the question: despite an Oscar nomination, is it worth seeing this film?Characters & StoryIn a world segregated between bears and mice, bears living on the surface and mice in the sewers, prejudice is rampant between the two. Mice children are taught bears are ferocious and deadly, while bears see mice as humans do: uninvited greedy little guests. But, despite all this, mice need bears for their teeth are good replacements for theirs. As for bears, well they don't really get anything out of this deal.But teeth are what lead to the main plot of the story as one young artistic orphan named Celestine (Pauline Brunner) finds herself befriending a poor musician named Ernest (Lamber Wilson). And what starts with him trying to eat her turns into them looking out for each other, loving each other, and finding each other to fit their needs. Celestine gives Ernest the love and encouragement he needs, and Celestine receives the sense of family and a home in return. Making their crime filled journey to their own personal bliss quite the tale.PraiseOh where to begin? There is the art style, story, the characters, and the fact it packs such a well-developed story in only a little over an hour. But perhaps what should be highlighted the most is that as cute as the story is between this Celestine and Ernest, it also creates a good learning tool for talking about prejudice with kids, as well as why people in poverty steal, why people panhandle and beg, and the importance of social services. For in the movie, often times there are examples of how prejudice is learned as shown by the stories of how dangerous bears are, and how everyone is pushed to conform into prejudice beliefs over their own perceptions.Which makes Celestine interacting with Ernest a good tool for teaching kids to question what others whisper and say about others. For, using examples from the movie, Celestine was warned her whole life about bears, and yet Ernest became perhaps one of the nicest animals she has ever met. Then, during later scenes, it shows examples of negative peer pressure and how simply following along, and not speaking out, could lead to someone being judged unjustly for something they did, or did not, do. Making, overall, what looks like a simple kid film greatly complex.CriticismHonestly, the only thing worth critiquing is after the "crime spree" of Celestine and Ernest, I was confused how come the ever fearful mice were able to take a bear Ernest's size into custody. Outside of that little issue though, you'd be hard pressed to find something wrong with this.Overall: Worth SeeingComplex animated films, which are kid friendly, are sort of rare. So when films like this come out and can either be seen as simple cute films, or learning tools, they certainly deserve praise. And that is why I'm labeling this as "Worth Seeing."

I really enjoyed watching this movie. I went into the film thinking it was more for adults, but discovered it has a story that anyone and any age can enjoy, and that's always a sign of a great movie.The movie is based on a children's book that I never herd of in which a Bear who's down on his luck befriends a mouse who's an artist at heart, beating all odds in a world where these two species are separated by fear and miscommunication.I love the animation style which I'm guessing is greatly inspired by the children's book it's based on. I especially loved the design of the mouse, Celestine. Her animation was very cute and they did a good job of making her very mouse-like with her movement and attitude while still making her relatable to humans. This was added by the voice over talent by Mackenzie Foy.I opted to watch the English dubbed version as I feel the authenticity of the dub matters less with animation. Some of you might disagree and I'm sure Lambert Wilson was great as Ernest, but hearing Forest Whitaker bring the poor reclusive bear whom Celestine befriends to life was a highlight.If you need a movie to take your kids to see, you gotta pick this one. It's a film that will put a smile on all of your faces.