Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Rémi Chayé who had previously worked on the beautiful The Secret of Kells (2009) sits on the director's chair for the first time and presents to us a beautiful animated film that could easily be a full feature movie with real actors.
Tout en haut du monde tells the story of Sacha (Christa Théret) a 15-year old Russian aristocrat whose grandfather is a captain, an adventurer and an explorer who wants to reach the North Pole. His last expedition however, did not end as he intented and he and his crew are now considered missing by the authorities, as their ship has been lost somewhere in the northern ice.
Sacha, determined that her grandfather is still alive, begins a long journey to reach the North Pole herself and along the way she faces many people who underestimate her and challenge her even more but she also finds her true identity and she matures.
This beautiful animated film uses old-fashioned animations that despite their simplicity and their subtle palette, manage to convey all the emotions and the necessary images to tell the touching story of Sacha. This is an animated film that touches a lot of "adult" subjects and it cannot be easily watched by small kids but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Tout en haut du monde does end up being one of the Oscar Nominees for Best Animated Feature this upcoming award season.
Tout en haut du monde was shown on the 3rd day of the AIFF, Saturday September 26th.
Nice! I was just finding some good shows by Andy Yeatman for my kids but it was great coming across this as well. It has been a very long time that I watched anything nice with them. I really want to watch entertaining and knowledgeable shows. I must share this with my friends.
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