A Monster in Paris received rather rapturous reviews during its theatrical exhibition in France in 2012, and now is finally coming to American shores on DVD & 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack on April 16 from Shout! Factory. Considering the factor of “lost in translation”, it may not get as many audiences as when it’s at home (France). But with the unusual plot and great animated style, it’s always a delight to watch, especially for children.
A Monster in Paris has an unusual plot like this: Paris, 1910. The shy film projectionist Emile (Jay Harrington) has a crush on his box office worker Maud (Madeline Zima). Emile’s best friend is Raoul (Adam Goldberg), a deliveryman, whose childhood friend Lucille (Vanessa Paradis) is a famous nightclub singer. And Lucille is forced into an arranged marriage with an obviously corrupt policeman named Maynott (Danny Huston). Story unfolds when Raoul brings Emile along on an unusual delivery, they end up in a humongous greenhouse that is tended to by a monkey named Charles. Defying instructions left by Charles’ owner, a scientist who works in the greenhouse, Raoul starts investigating the mysterious place and ends up wreaking havoc when he manages creates a gigantic sunflower by using a super powered fertilizer, and he also manages to give Charles a lovely singing voice. While the “monster” is accidentally created, which at last revealed is actually a tiny flea that has, like the sunflower, grown to immense proportions and, like Charles, developed a lovely singing voice. And all this is captured by some camera equipment. All strands are interwoven when Lucille decides to put the flea, now named Francoeur, in her act, while Maynott figures out that Emile and Raoul were somehow involved in unleashing this “fearsome beast” on the general public. As the bad guy is trying to catch Francoeur, our heroes are doing what they can to save him…
I have to mention that Vanessa Paradis sings like an angel in this animation and makes a meaningful contribution to this film. One will always be happy to hear such a soothing and beautiful voice.
The Blu-ray releases of the animation are presented with both AVC (2D) and MVC (3D) encoded 1080p transfers in 1.85:1 and a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Fabulous audiovisual experience is ensured all round.
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