''April and the Extraordinary World'' (french: Avril et le Monde truqué, lit=April and the Deceptive World) is a 2015

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

alternate history film co-directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci, co-written by Ekinci and Benjamin Legrand, and starring

Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress, film producer, singer, and environmentalist who is widely known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions. She has received ...

. Set in a dystopian steampunk world, the plot concerns a young scientist continuing her great grandfather's research and attempting to find her family, who have disappeared.

Plot

The film takes place in a world where

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

was killed in a building explosion and the Franco-Prussian War was averted by his son's shrewd

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

. Over the next 70 years, the world's scientists disappear one by one, causing technological progress to grind to a halt and

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

to spiral out of control. In 1941, April Franklin, great-granddaughter of scientist Gustave Franklin, continues her family's work on a serum for ever-lasting life. So far, their only success has been April's pet cat Darwin, who has gained the ability to talk. Meanwhile, her family is pursued by the bumbling Inspector Gaspar Pizoni, who hopes to turn their research over to the government for use in wartime. April discovers her parents perfected the serum years ago and hid the results inside her

snowglobe A snow globe (also called a waterglobe, snowstorm, or snowdome) is a transparent sphere, traditionally made of glass, enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a town, neighborhood, landscape or figure. The sphe ...

. April finds a message of warning from her father and finds herself pursued by a noxious black cloud. She and Darwin are rescued by Julius, a petty criminal hired by Pizoni to follow her. April uses the message to reunite with her grandfather Prosper "Pops" Franklin, who has spent the last 10 years hiding from Pizoni. Julius reluctantly turns Pops over to Pizoni. The authorities take Pops to a government weapons research center in

Fort-la-Latte Fort la Latte, or the Castle of the Rock Goyon (french: La Roche-Goyon, br, Roc'h-Goueon), is a castle in the northeast of Brittany, about southeast of Cap Fréhel and about west of Saint-Malo, in the ''commune'' of Plévenon, Côtes-d'Armor. ...

, where he finds other scientists studying a mysterious machine found at the bottom of the sea. The machine turns out to be an

airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurat ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

. Julius returns to April just as a group of

cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

soldiers attack Pops' house. April discovers that the house can convert into a mobile bunker, so she, Julius, and Darwin use the house to flee to Fort La-Latte. April, Julius and Darwin escape on the plane, which Pops has repaired, with Pizoni stowed away. On the plane, they find a film that reveals the truth behind the world's problems. The scientists have been kidnapped by two sentient

komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant ...

s bred by Gustave as part of his research back in 1870. The lizards, Rodrigue and Chimène, have used the scientists to create a jungle ecosystem underneath Paris, where the scientists work alongside the lizards' offspring on an ambitious project. The lizards remotely hijack the plane, but Pizoni brings the plane down in the jungle. April, Darwin, and Julius reunite with April's mother, Annette, who reveals the lizards' ultimate project: launching a rocket loaded with vegetation made invulnerable from the serum to other planets,

terraforming Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...

them to escape the humans' wars, pollution, and violence. Pops and Pizoni are captured and imprisoned. There, they meet April's father Paul, who has been imprisoned for rebelling against the project. April's group causes a blackout that frees the prisoners. Pizoni tries to escape while Pops and Paul try to find the others. At the rocket's launch, Julius secretly switches April's serum with plain water before handing it to Rodrigue. Rodrigue drinks the "serum" and reveals he has rigged the rocket to explode, wiping out humanity so he can take over the world. Rodrigue kills Chimène when she tries to stop him and Julius fatally shoots Rodrigue. April douses the vegetation on the rocket with her serum, fulfilling Chimène's plan, and Darwin redirects the rocket to space. The Franklins, Julius, and the scientists join Pizoni in escaping to the surface and witness the rocket exploding in space. Pizoni becomes the head of Emperor Napoleon V's security service in reward for foiling the lizards' plot. With the scientists free, technology begins advancing rapidly. April continues to work on the serum but never finds a way to make it work for humans. Man finally reaches the Moon in 2001, where astronauts discover Darwin, still alive. An elderly Julius breaks the happy news to his wife, April.

Voice cast

Marketing

The first poster of ''April and the Extraordinary World'' was released on 21 June 2015.

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

released the first trailer on 18 September 2015.

Gkids GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...

released the first U.S. trailer on 22 February 2016.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

on 15 June 2015.

released the film in France on 11 November 2015. O'Brother Distribution released it in Belgium on the same day.

released the film in United States in 2016, starting with a limited release in New York on 25 March 2016 and then to theaters nationwide on 8 April 2016.

Reception

Critical response

The site's critical consensus reads, "Bursting with a colorful imagination befitting its promise-packed title, ''April and the Extraordinary World'' offers spectacular delights for animation fans willing to venture off the beaten path."

Accolades

References

External links

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Cineuropa
{{DEFAULTSORT:April And The Extraordinary World 2015 films 2015 animated films 2015 comedy films 2015 science fiction films 2010s adventure comedy films 2010s children's animated films 2010s French animated films 2010s science fiction adventure films 2010s science fiction comedy films Animated adventure films Annecy Cristal for a Feature Film winners Belgian alternate history films Belgian animated films Belgian animated science fiction films Canadian adventure comedy films Canadian alternative history films Canadian animated science fiction films Canadian animated comedy films Canadian children's comedy films Canadian animated feature films Canadian science fiction adventure films Canadian science fiction comedy films Cultural depictions of Napoleon III Films set in 1870 Films set in 1931 Films set in 1941 Films set in 2001 French adventure comedy films French alternate history films French animated science fiction films French children's films 2010s French-language films French animated feature films French science fiction adventure films French science fiction comedy films Steampunk films StudioCanal animated films StudioCanal films French-language Canadian films 2010s Canadian films 2010s British films 2010s French films