

FANTASTIC PLANET was an international coproduction between France and Czechloslovakia. It is originally a French-language film, but both the original French and English dubbed audio tracks are included here. Apparently, Roger Corman distributed the movie in the U.S. - as part of the foreign and art house cinema that he frequently bought and brought to the states. I think people often forget that this was something Corman did regularly and in that way, did his part to enrich the culture of movies over here. I mean, I'm sure he did it a good deal for the money, but nonetheless - there are many films such as this one that would certainly be lesser known today had they not gotten that exposure in the 1970s.
FANTASTIC PLANET is one of those films that you watch and can immediately understand how it has become a cult item over the years. It truly is like few films you've ever seen and its science fiction backdrop and animation style make it not only captivating, but also kinda trippy. It's easy to see how this movie might have appealed to a post-60s drug culture in its strangely psychedelic nature. Viewed today, it is an absolute treat for fans of both sci-fi and animation. It's an important and fascinating film that is perfectly suited to the Criterion Collection. As you might imagine, the Blu-ray format always serves animation quite well and the transfer here looks great. This disc is a must own for sure.
Special Features:
-A New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
-Alternate English-language soundtrack.
-Les temps morts (1965) and Les escargots (1966), two early short films by director René Laloux and illustrator Roland Topor.
-Laloux sauvage, a 2009 documentary on Laloux.
-An Episode of the French television program Italiques from 1974 about Topor’s work.
-Interview with Topor from 1973.
-Trailer
-New English subtitle translation
-PLUS: An essay by critic Michael Brooke
This Criterion Blu-ray of FANTASTIC PLANET can be purchased from Amazon here:
http://amzn.to/24I5Ch1
http://amzn.to/24I5Ch1
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