''A Monster in Paris'' (french: Un monstre à Paris) is a 2011 French 3D computer-animated

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Bibo Bergeron Eric "Bibo" Bergeron (born July 14, 1965) is a French animator and film director. His work includes ''The Road to El Dorado'' (2000), ''Shark Tale'' (2004) and ''A Monster in Paris'' (2011). Bergeron has served as animator on films like '' Ast ...

, and based on a story he wrote. It was produced by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

, written by Bergeron and Stéphane Kazandjian, and distributed by

EuropaCorp Distribution EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...

, and features the voices of

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The ...

Vanessa Paradis Vanessa Chantal Paradis (; born 22 December 1972) is a French singer, model, and actress. Paradis became a child star at the age of 14 with the international success of her single "Joe le taxi" (1987). At age 18, she was awarded France's hig ...

Adam Goldberg Adam Charles Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American character actor, filmmaker, musician, and photographer. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', ''Saving ...

Danny Huston Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an Italian-born American actor and film director. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and the half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston. He is known for ...

Madeline Zima Madeline Zima (born September 16, 1985) is an American actress. She portrayed Grace Sheffield on the CBS sitcom ''The Nanny'' (1993–1999), Mia Lewis on the Showtime comedy drama series ''Californication'' (2007–2011), and Gretchen Berg on ...

, Matthew Géczy,

Jay Harrington James H. Harrington III, professionally known as Jay Harrington, (born November 15, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his role as the title character in the ABC sitcom ''Better Off Ted'' in 2009-2010 and since 2017 as Sgt. David "Deacon" ...

, Catherine O'Hara and

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

. Many plot elements are drawn from

Gaston Leroux Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, ...

's novel ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

''. It was released on 12 October 2011. It was also produced by Bibo Films,

France 3 Cinéma France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services providing ...

, Walking The Dog, uFilm, uFund,

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (former ...

, CinéCinéma, Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique and Umedia. Its music was composed by Matthieu Chedid, Sean Lennon and Patrice Renson.

Plot

The film is set in 1910; the story beginning by documenting the flooding of the River Seine that year. A shy projectionist Emile Petit has a passion for film and is in love with his co-worker at the cinema, Maud. His friend, an exuberant yet obnoxious inventor and delivery driver, Raoul, picks him up from work to transport him in his bizarre vehicle (called "Catherine"), to obtain a new belt for his projector. In purchasing a new belt, Emile also buys himself a new camera, which would’ve been stolen by a local thief if "Catherine" had not malfunctioned. The story also introduces Lucille, a cabaret singer at the club L'Oiseau Rare ("The Rare Bird") and Raoul's childhood friend with whom he is on bad terms. Her aunt Carlotta is trying to marry her off to the wealthy Police Commissioner and Mayor candidate Victor Maynott, of whom she personally does not approve of for his arrogance. One evening, Raoul brings Emile to make a delivery to the

Botanical Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. In the absence of the Professor who works there, the place is guarded by his assistant, a proboscis monkey named Charles. Despite the professor's command left to Charles, Raoul experiments with an "Atomize-a-Tune" and an unstable "Super Fertilizer"; the former gives Charles a temporary voice of an opera singer, and the latter grows a sunflower seed into a giant sunflower. The plant topples towards Raoul and Emile, and an explosion occurs as the two chemicals were mixed. Everyone is unscathed, but Emile is convinced he has glimpsed a monstrous creature, with an illustrated interpretation later appearing in the newspapers. After a series of fearful sightings, an investigation is launched into the whereabouts of the creature by Maynott's second in command, Pâté, but is fronted by Maynott, in the hope of popular support for his mayoral candidacy. At the same time he tries unsuccessfully to charm Lucille. Lucille begins looking for a new musician for the cabaret, but rejects one of the waiters, Albert, for his terrible singing voice. Trying to vacate the cabaret through the back door, the latter stumbles across the creature and flees, terrified. Lucille is frightened upon seeing the same creature, but hears its euphonious voice as it sang. Through singing, the creature tells of how—as a

flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

—the chemicals in the laboratory explosion (the two aforementioned mixtures) enlarged itself to human scale and as a result was shunned by everyone in the city. Taking pity of the creature, Lucille therefore welcomes it as "Francœur", after the passageway where she discovered him. During the investigation, Emile and Raoul's role in the laboratory incident is discovered. For Maynott's interest in the creature and perceived opportunity to further improve his reputation, he disregards Emile and Raoul's involvement as perpetrators, and awards them the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

. On a challenge set earlier by Lucille, Raoul uses this to get the best seats at Lucille's show at "The Rare Bird", where she and a disguised Francœur bond as they sing as a duet. However, unbeknownst to Lucille, the effects of the "Super Fertilizer" aren't permanent and Francœur is slowly shrinking down to his normal size. Emile and Raoul congratulate Lucille on her show after its close, but Lucille accidentally reveals the identity of Francœur, which Albert (who overheard her confession) reports to the police. Emile, Raoul and Francœur narrowly escape and Albert is falsely sent to share the thief's cell on suspicion of lying to the police. The trio have trouble trying to figure out where to put Francœur, as he is too frightful looking to be seen on the streets and Maynott is still after him. Suddenly, Lucille comes up with an idea she plans to present during a ceremony tomorrow, in which the trio will reveal Francœur and feign his death. The next day, Maynott opens the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

Funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

, which serves Montmartre and the

Basilica of the Sacré Cœur In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

. Francœur is seemingly 'killed' after Maynott throws his 'antidote' at the creature and stomps it once it shrinks back down, but he quickly discovers Francœur hiding under the stage. Along with the police, Maynott chases Francœur and his friends through the streets of Paris where it concludes at the tip of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

. Stranded in the flood, Raoul uses "Catherine’s" flap to swim there, but the vehicle sinks just as they make it to the Tower. Meanwhile, Maud (after receiving a date invite by Emile earlier) arrives at the tower just in time for the ensuing battle, in which she supports Emile and admits her feelings for him. After a battle to protect Francœur from Maynott, a gunshot from Maynott and Francœur's sudden disappearance lead everyone to believe that Francœur is killed. Maynott is then taken away to the same cell as Albert and the thief from earlier, forced to endure the duo's appalling singing, by Pâté—who is disgusted at having aided Maynott in his rampage—for the premeditated murder of Francœur on the basis that the latter is innocent. Later that evening, Lucille is distraught by the disappearance of Francœur, but Raoul convinces her to sing anyway. Whilst struggling to begin, she hears Francœur as a normal-sized flea singing in her ear, much to her happiness. Sometime later, the absent Professor returns from his trip to New York and he restores Francœur back to human size with a new mixture upon Raoul and Charles' retelling of the situation. Francœur takes second billing on the posters advertising Lucille's show, while Lucille and Raoul later share their first kiss in Lucille's dressing room after clearing up a misunderstanding from their childhood. Afterwards, Raoul, Lucille, Francœur, Maud, Emile, Charles, Carlotta and Pâté scatter super-fertilized sunflower seeds to drain the flooded Seine of its water.

Cast

Music

The soundtrack includes both songs and short clips from the film, in both French and English. The soundtrack of the English version was released in the UK a few days after the film's release on both CD and digital download. The album is credited to

& ( -M-) ;French version # "Les actualités (Interlude)" (0:27) # "La valse de Paris" (0:43) # "La Seine – Cabaret" (

-) (1:17) # "Emile et Raoul" (2:00) # "Sur les toits" (1:28) # "Maynott" (1:05) # "La rencontre" (1:45) # "Un monstre à Paris" ( -M-) (2:18) # "Le baptëme" (Interlude) (Lucille) (0:11) # "Francœur"/Lucille (2:13) # "Brume à Paname" (1:01) # "Cabaret" (1:02) # "La Seine" (Vanessa Paradis & -M-) (2:48) # "Perquisition" (0:59) # "Sacré cœur" (0:56) # "Papa Paname" (Vanessa Paradis) (2:23) # "Sue le fleuve"/"Tournesol" (1:15) # "Tour Eiffel infernale" (2:29) # "L'amour dans l'âme" (-M-) (1:30) # "Flashback" (1:39) # "U p'tit baiser" (Vanessa Paradis & -M-) (2:24) # "Funky baiser" (5:13) ;English version # "Interlude – the News" (0:27) # "La Valse de Paris" (0:43) # "La Seine and I Cabaret" (

-) (1:17) # "Emile et Raoul" (2:00) # "Sur les Toits" (1:28) # "Maynott" (1:05) # "La Rencontre" (1:45) # "A Monster in Paris" (

) (2:18) # "Interlude – Lucille 'The Baptism' (0:11) # "Francœur – Lucille" (2:13) # "Brume à Paname" (1:01) # "Cabaret" (1:02) # "La Seine and I" (Vanessa Paradis & Sean Lennon) (2:48) # "Perquisition" (0:59) # "Sacré Cœur" (0:56) # "Papa Paris" (Vanessa Paradis) (2:23) # "Sue le Fleuve – Tournesol" (1:15) # "Tour Eiffel Infernale" (2:29) # "Love is in My Soul" (Sean Lennon) (1:30) # "Flashback" (1:39) # "Just a Little Kiss" (Vanessa Paradis & Sean Lennon) (2:24) # "Funky Baiser" (5:13)

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it received an aggregate score of 87% based on 23 reviews (20 "fresh" and 3 "rotten").

Accolades

; Annie Awards 2014 * Annie Award – Outstanding Achievement in Character Design in an Animated Feature Production – Christophe Lourdelet – Nominated ; César Awards 2012 * César Award – Best Animated Film (Meilleur film d'animation) – Bibo Bergeron (director), Luc Besson (producer) – Nominated * César Award – Best Original Music (Meilleure musique originale) – Matthieu Chedid, Patrice Renson – Nominated

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monster in Paris, A 2011 films 2011 3D films 2011 comedy films 2011 computer-animated films 2010s French animated films 2011 fantasy films 2010s musical films 2010s monster movies 2010s English-language films 2010s French-language films French 3D films French computer-animated films French children's films French animated fantasy films French fantasy comedy films French musical comedy films French romantic comedy films French independent films Animated romance films Animated science fantasy films 3D animated films English-language French films Films based on The Phantom of the Opera Films about shapeshifting Animated films set in Paris Films set in 1910 Films directed by Bibo Bergeron Films produced by Luc Besson 2010s French films