There are a couple of moments during this animated childrens tale that are as mad, funny and just surreal as anything in a David Lynch movie. A Town Called Panic is a treat for any adults who remember Morph, Pingu or the Clangers what their kids will make of it is anyones guess.
It uses stop-motion with plastic childrens toys as the characters. The main three protagonists are Cowboy, Indian and Horse, who all live together in a house in a village with a population who spend all of their time manically shouting at each other and zipping around the town. It is Horses birthday, so Cowboy and Indian plan a surprise barbeque, which they have to build from scratch. India goes on the internet to order 50 bricks, but a mistake means they end up with 50 million bricks, the weight of which sinks the village.
Horse meanwhile has a crush on the teacher at the local school and signs up for 100 piano lessons but will he manage to turn up when his pals end up falling to the centre of the earth, in the ocean and in Antartica inside a giant snowball-making machine. Still with it? You will be the great skill of the film is that however bonkers it sounds, watching it actually makes perfect sense. There are some truly inspired, funny moments, one where the trio are plummeting towards the centre of the earth on a rock, break out the cards and play a game of poker. The giant snowball machine is a thing of surreal beauty, and, being shaped like a penguin, inevitably brings comparisons with Pingu.
Its no surprise to discover that the makers of A Town Called Panic are Belgian, the same country that produced Rene Magritte. It started life as a series of animated episodes for Canal+, which ended up at Aardman Studios who dubbed them into English. The film was shown out of competition at Cannes, where it was well received, and had a brief theatrical release. The DVD looks fantastic, with excellent animation, and with Christmas coming up its an excellent alternative to the usual kids animations.
Overall Verdict: Toy Story 3 will probably be the must-have this Christmas, but this is the thinking parents alternative. Mad, but great fun.
Special Features:
Trailer
Interview with the two directors
Reviewer: Mike Martin