A brilliant film that helped define a genre

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Filmmaker Rene Laloux talks about his life and career in this engrossing and informative 25-minute interview. Laloux notes that he was born in 1929, which was the same year as the stock market crash in America that caused the Great Depression. Laloux describes a film director as like a boss or a dictator and reveals that it's difficult to work in the context of supply and demand especially when it comes to getting someone to hire you to make a movie that only you want to make. Laloux discusses at length how he worked for four years at a psychiatric hospital and made his first two animated shorts as collaborative projects with the patients. His comments about his ten year friendship with the highly gifted and creative, yet difficult Roland Topor are especially illuminating. Better still, Laloux candidly talks about all the problems and obstacles he faced during the five years it took to make "Fantastic Planet" that include the fact that a revolution occurred in Czechoslovakia as the film was in production. Loaded with choice clips and behind the scenes photos, it's recommended viewing for fans of Laloux and his work.