Yes, even the Europeans have animation. Some of you out there might be surprised, considering the Academy doesn’t care about animation beyond whatever Disney has crapped out that year and even less about animation outside of the U.S., but it’s true. That Tintin movie Spielberg came out with a couple years ago? Based on a Belgian comic book, which had a very popular cartoon series in the 90s. The movie Heavy Metal? Based on the sci-fi magazine Heavy Metal, which is based on the French sci-fi magazine Metal Hurlant, and featured several French artists. Wallace & Gromit? Incredibly British, as it turns out.
As far as French animation goes, some movie fans might know the name Fantastic Planet, which was the name the English crowd gave to a French animated film released in 1973. While the actual plot of Fantastic Planet is probably lost on most audiences, the thing that sticks most in their minds is the visual design. Part Terry Gilliam picture manipulation, part Salvador Dali LSD nightmare, the film is unlike anything that you would see out of an American studio before or since. Not just because America has a bias against all things animation, but because the entire mindset around filmmaking is different. The French (to use a blatant generalization) love art, they love things to be fantastical and whimsical and surrealistic, even when it comes to their horror and their science fiction. Americans (to use another blatant generalization) love their sci-fi hard, the explosions large and a 3 to 1 ratio on violence versus sex. It’s not an issue of which one’s better than the other, it’s just how our respective cultures have progressed over the years.
That being said, I have to say that Gandahar still isn’t all that great a movie. It looks interesting enough, beautiful even, bringing to life a world that seems to be directly inspired by such talents as Alejandro Jodorowsky and French comic artist Moebius. The story is packed to the brim with symbolism, for those that are interested in that sort of thing. Nature vs. technology, male vs. female, there’s more obvious allusions here than a 1st year film student’s term paper. The main villain looks like a giant penis for god’s sake, how much more on the nose can you get?
All the animated boobs in the world however doesn’t change the fact that for a movie about a guy trying to save the world from an army of killer robots, not of exciting things actually happen in the movie, and even if it did, the limited animation quality would have made it seem like it was happening at a snail’s pace. It was an issue I had with Rock & Rule as well, where everything felt like it was moving in slow-motion, but it is far, far more noticeable in Gandahar. I don’t know if it’s an issue with budget or, again, it’s just a cultural preference that I’m not privy, but it almost doesn’t even seem worth doing an animated film if there’s so little you can do with it. Sure, there are scenes and effects that can only properly be done through an animated medium, but when your characters are relegated to having coy conversations with each other and behaving like animatronics, then it seems like you’ve managed to sidestep the point.
Those of you who are super into animation, or if you like your sci-fi mostly fantasy and your fantasy mostly sci-fi, you just might find something to enjoy about Gandahar, or Light Years as its dubbed version was known. Otherwise, pretty pictures don’t make up for an ultimately boring film, and that’s why I can’t really recommend it. You’ll find more interesting films, and more cartoon breasts, in your nearest Bakshi filmography, so I suggest looking there instead.
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