Checked out a new english-dubbed French steampunk sci-fi hand-drawn animated film on video streaming called April and the Extraordinary World. Came out of nowhere and it’s pretty good. It very much reminds of a Japanese anime except with a western art style. It doesn’t hold strong for the full run-time and the steampunk world isn’t super unique… though I guess there haven’t been many movies to use it.
Basic premise – in the late 19th century, many scientists who would have gone on to change the industrial age vanished so all the technologies that made the modern world weren’t made. Instead, steam power and iron kept on being the mode of power and that decimated the environment, cutting down almost all the trees in Europe, creating a constant polluting smog, and resulting in wars in the Americas over its dwindling resources. Saying more would ruin some surprises. I’ll just say that its largely focuses on the female lead and her modified cat as they search for her scientist parents.
Good cast for the English dub – Tony Hale, Paul Giamatti, Susan Sarandon, JK Simmons, and maybe Marion Cotiard (not sure if she’s in the French or English dub since she’s moderately well known in the US).
But, yeah, it’s pretty good. I’d recommend it if you like steampunk or sci-fi in general and/or traditional hand-drawn animated movies (since so few are made). Or maybe just anything that’s an original story – this isn’t even based on an existing French comic book, near as I can tell. I caught it on iTunes and maybe it got a limited theatrical release.
Score:79