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Features: DVD, Animation, Widescreen, English/French/English Subtitled, Trailers
Winner of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Award, Fantastic Planet is an allegorical tale about the struggle for freedom by a race of humanoid creatures called "Oms." The Oms live on the far away planet of Ygam, ruled by a society of blue-skinned giants called Traags, who keep the Oms as domesticated pets for their children. But when one orphaned Om manages to escape with a Traag knowledge device, he unites a society of wild Oms to use the knowledge in a revolt against their exploitive treatment. The wild Oms attack the Traags in their most vulnerable spot by traveling to a strange planet, a mystical moon orbiting around their home world, which holds the secret to the Traag's existence. Full of strange other-worldy enviornments, colors, eerie sounds and alien creatures, Fantastic Planet is highly regarded for its stylized animation.
Editor's Note
FANTASTIC PLANET is Rene Laloux's bizarre, enthralling adaptation of Stefan Wul's allegorical science-fiction novel. The eye-popping underground sensation was also a critical success, winning awards at several prestigious film festivals (most notably, the Grand Prix in 1973 at Cannes). Set on the planet Ygam, the film depicts a world in which Draags--a gigantic race of blue alien beings--run the show. Their pets are human beings--or, as they are known in Laloux's world, Oms--who are mistreated by their devious owners. Fed up with the abuse, one Om organizes his brethren and stages a mutiny that will forever change life on Ygam.Laloux's film blends 1960s ideologies with 1970s technology to create a work that profoundly impacted animators all over the world. In creating a troubled universe dominated by the soulless, conformist Draags, FANTASTIC PLANET rejects that notion and embraces the concept of individuality. A troubled political climate forced Laloux and fellow collaborator Roland Torpor (screenwriter of Roman Polanski's 1976 thriller THE TENANT) to relocate to Paris from Prague in order to finish the film. Fortunately, they were able to do so, leaving audiences with this startling animated achievement.
| Features | Region 1 | | Keep Case | | Letterbox - 1.66 | | Widescreen - 1.66 | | Audio:
| Dolby Digital Mono - French, English | | Additional Release Material:
| Bonus Animated Shorts:
| 1. Les Dents du Singe (Monkey's Teeth, 1960) | | 2. Les Temps Morts (Dead Times, 1964) | | 3. Les Escargots (The Snails, 1965) | | Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer | | Interactive Features:
| Scene Access | | Interactive Menus | | Text/Photo Galleries:
| Biographies: Rene Laloux - Director |
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| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Anchor Bay |
| Release Date: 2/16/1999 |
| Running Time: 72 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1973 | | Catalog ID: 10702 | | UPC: 00013131070293 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: French | | Available Audio Tracks: English Dubbed, French | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew | Boris Baromykin - Photography | | Roland Topor - Designer | | Alain Goraguer - Music | | Lubomir Rejthar - Photography | | Rene La Loux - Director |
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| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"...Disquieting, eerie and vastly imaginative..." 10/09/1998 p.C18Sight and Sound
"With an animation style based around cut-out elements and camera dissolves, Laloux and his team create a woozily hallucinatory feel..." 10/01/2006 p.88 |
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