‘Ernest & Celestine’ is a beautiful, hilarious animation from the ‘A Town Called Panic’ team
Based on Belgian author Gabrielle Vincent’s children’s books, Ernest & Celestine is an infectiously joyous piece of entertainment from the duo behind the manic A Town Called Panic, who direct here alongside Benjamin Renner. That earlier film’s stop-motion approach is abandoned for a more traditional hand-drawn animation style, presented in a beautiful, gentle watercolour palette. Ernest & Celestine is also not quite so anarchic in its humour, though one struggles to think of what film could match A Town Called Panic for that, but shares its predecessor’s wittiness regarding heated exchanges and heightened characters prone to snap decision-making.
