Ernest & Celestine (2012)

directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner
France
80 minutes
5 stars out of 5
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I probably don't need to explain too much about Ernest & Celestine because it's already a fairly popular movie. I probably also don't need to mention that the animation is flawless, fluid, inventive and generally a treat to look at. But mention it I will, because watching something like this where the characters are rendered in a fantastical yet structured style makes you realize that animated films that use computer-generated imagery (like most of Disney's modern films) are, though probably still as time-intensive as this, somehow lacking in the same level of warmth.

I actually love the inconsistency of proportions in this. For example, one of the larger plot points is that there's a thriving mouse dentistry industry that profits off of pilfering teeth from bears and putting them in mice's mouths. Ernest the bear also makes an excursion into mouse territory, which is ostensibly small enough as to have been established in little hidden places like storm drains; and compared to Ernest, Celestine the mouse is more like the size of a large rat or perhaps even a weasel, owing to the difficulty that would arise from needing to draw an actual mouse-sized mouse and a bear in the same frame.

Besides being an absolute treat visually, this has some unexpected things to say about capitalism as well. There's a surprising amount of focus on having and not-having, profiteering and class lines, things of that nature. A daddy bear selling candy to other bear children with glee and disregard for the fact that their teeth will rot while steadfastly keeping his own son from having one gram of sugar. Making money off the misfortune of others to the point of relying on it for the prosperity of your business. Also it covers taking back that which is unfairly held from you by capitalism- stealing food that exists in abundance when your own lack of money precludes you from getting even one decent meal.

Besides all of these important teachings about the nature of capitalism and profit, the message at the heart of Ernest & Celestine is not to listen to those who seek to categorize certain people as all being the same: Celestine and the rest of the mice are taught from infancy that bears are all murderous and scary, and the bears detest the possibility of something so pestilent as a mouse coming into their home. And in addition to this, the thing at the heart of it all is loving. The importance of finding someone who'll care for you and who you can provide happiness to in return. No matter what imaginary divides that relationship might happen to go across.