René Laloux (; July 1929 – 14 March 2004) was a French animator, screenwriter and film director.

Biography

He was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1929 and went to art school to study

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

. After some time working in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, he got a job in a psychiatric institution where he began experimenting in animation with the interns. It is at the psychiatric institution that he made the 1960 film ''Monkey's Teeth'' ('' Les Dents du Singe''), in collaboration with

Paul Grimault Paul Grimault (; 23 March 1905 – 29 March 1994) was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature. His most important work is ''Le Roi et l' ...

's studio, and using a script written by the Cour Cheverny's interns. Another important collaborator of his was

Roland Topor Roland Topor (7 January 1938 – 16 April 1997) was a French illustrator, cartoonist, comics artist, painter, novelist, playwright, film and TV writer, filmmaker and actor, who was known for the surreal nature of his work. He was of Polish-Jewish ...

with whom Laloux made ''Dead Time'' ('' Les Temps Morts'', 1964), ''The Snails'' ('' Les Escargots'', 1965) and his most famous work, the feature length ''Fantastic Planet'' ('' La Planète Sauvage'', 1973). Laloux also worked with Jean Giraud ( Mœbius) to create the lesser known film ''

Les Maîtres du temps ''Les Maîtres du temps'' (lit. ''The Masters of Time'', a.k.a. ''Time Masters''; ''Herrscher der Zeit'' in German; ''Az idő urai'' in Hungarian) is a 1982 Franco-West German-Swiss-British- Hungarian animated science fiction feature film direct ...

'' (''Time Masters''), released in 1982. Laloux's 1987 film, ''Gandahar'', was released in the US as ''

Light Years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

'', and made in cooperation with the artist Caza. The US version was redubbed by

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...

, from a screenplay adapted by

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. The US version was not as successful as the French, grossing less than $400,000 on its release. Laloux died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on 14 March 2004 in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins ...

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; oc, Peitau-Charantas; Poitevin-Saintongese: ) is a former administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, D ...

, France.

Filmography

Feature films *''

Fantastic Planet ''Fantastic Planet'' (french: La Planète sauvage; cs, Divoká planeta, lit. "The Wild Planet") is a 1973 experimental adult animated science fiction film, directed by René Laloux and written by Laloux and Roland Topor, the latter of whom a ...

'' (1973)Don Bluth Goes Independent - AWN.com
/ref> *'' Time Masters'' (1982) *'' Gandahar'' (1987) (released in the U.S. in

bowdlerize Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is a pejorative term for the practi ...

d form under the title ''Light Years'') Short films *''Tick-Tock'' (1957) *''Les Achalunés'' (1958) *''The Monkey's Teeth (Les Dents du singe)'' (1960) *''Dead Times (Les Temps morts)'' (1964) *''The Snails (Les Escargots)'' (1965) *''The Play'' (1975) *''Quality Control'' (1984) *''How Wang-fo Was Saved (Comment Wang-Fo fut sauvé)'' (1987) *''The Captive (La Prisonnière)'' (1988) *''Eye of the Wolf (L'Œil du loup)'' (1998) (screenwriter only)

References

External links

*
René Laloux biography
at Le Palais des dessins animés
eurekavideo.co.uk, ''Masters of Cinema series''
– Craig Keller: ''The schizophrenic cinema of René Laloux'', 2006.

at Lessons From the School of Inattention {{DEFAULTSORT:Laloux, Rene 1929 births 2004 deaths French animators French film directors French animated film directors Science fiction film directors