{"id":312,"date":"2010-10-04T18:04:42","date_gmt":"2010-10-04T18:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=312"},"modified":"2010-10-04T18:04:43","modified_gmt":"2010-10-04T18:04:43","slug":"a-town-called-panic-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/comedy\/a-town-called-panic-4\/","title":{"rendered":"A Town Called Panic – 4*"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Are you familiar with the eccentric Cravendale milk ads and the cows getting moo-ing mad over their \u2018stolen\u2019 milk? A Town Called Panic<\/em><\/a> is a feature-length version, based on the Belgian animated cult TV series of the same name. The film is quite simply animated lunacy run wild from directors Vincent Patar<\/a> and St\u00e9phane Aubier<\/a> and it\u2019s an absolute tonic in a cinema world obsessed with 3D. This film is equally as entertaining \u2013 if not more so \u2013 because it possesses qualities that the latter often lack: sheer imagination, without lots of fancy studio tools to hand, plus some memorable voiceovers.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, this animation is an acquired taste and its plastic toy characters of Cowboy, Indian and Horse have to grab your attention straightaway for you to be able to go along for the insane ride. If this doesn\u2019t happen, you will be left perplexed at what all the fuss is about. The fact is the stop-motion animated style that isn\u2019t technically perfect by any accounts is exactly what\u2019s needed to create the feeling of \u2018panic\u2019 and continual unrest to the narrative. However, even though the pace is frenetic, the film-makers do not lose sight of attention to detail. There is still the opportunity to marvel at what\u2019s packed into every single moment in the film. It\u2019s a real labour of love that pays off.<\/p>\n

The countryside world of our three protagonists is abruptly disrupted, after an online error made by Cowboy and Indian who try to get Horse something original for his birthday. Chaos ensues, but not without many tearful giggles at the utter idiocy of the situation, made all the more hilarious by the inane yells from neighbouring farmer Steven and his cries of \u2018Hey, Cheval!\u2019 that are annoyingly catchy, to say the least. It\u2019s like being in a state of wonderment at what could possibly happen next that keeps you on your toes.<\/p>\n

There are some strange underwater creatures that come in the dead of night to steal from our three friends, as well as mad scientists operating a large penguin-shaped transporter that seem to be trying to make the perfect snowball for one childish purpose only. In fact, it\u2019s the sidetracking elements of the tale that tickle you the most in this sensationally silly story and supply the added thrills. It also demonstrates that slapstick comedy done in a thoughtful and immensely creative fashion is certainly not dead in the water.<\/p>\n

A Town Called Panic<\/em><\/a> is fresh, absurd and hearty good fun that will entertain the whole family. Whether it is a \u2018made-for-TV film\u2019 is debatable. That said it\u2019s not in the same league as Aardman<\/a>\u2019s Wallace and Grommit<\/em><\/a>, and at times feels like a self-indulgent experiment in making feature film for its creators, rather than producing characters that can be truly loved and shared. But it is in its own potty world, though, and one that for 75 minutes can be thoroughly relished, if you get onboard from the offset.<\/p>\n

4\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By L G-K<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you familiar with the eccentric Cravendale milk ads and the cows getting moo-ing mad over their \u2018stolen\u2019 milk? A Town Called Panic is a feature-length version, based on the Belgian animated cult TV series of the same name. The film is quite simply animated lunacy run wild from directors Vincent Patar and St\u00e9phane Aubier … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Town Called Panic – 4*”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,7],"tags":[225,229,228,230,226,227],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animation","category-comedy","category-family","tag-a-town-called-panic","tag-cowboy","tag-horse","tag-indian","tag-stephane-aubier","tag-vincent-patar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}