French Animation, Chapitre 5 - The Illusionist

Previously: Ernest & Celestine

What is it? 
Helmed by Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville), The Illusionist is based on a script written by French filmmaker/actor Jacques Tati. The famous director allegedly wrote the screenplay in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged daughter, and intended to shoot a live-action film out of it. But he never did, and the script ended up many years later in Sylvain Chomet's hands, who chose to do it as an animated film, because the very idea of someone stepping into Tati's shoes for the role of the main character was absurd to him.
The story, set in Scotland, focuses on the relationship between an illusionist and a girl who thinks he really is a magician.

French Animation, Chapitre 2 - Le Roi et l'Oiseau

Previously: The Triplets of Belleville

Also known as The King and the Bird and all sorts of variations around that (The King and Mister Bird, The King and the Mocking Bird...), Le Roi et L'Oiseau is considered by many the greatest French animated film ever made (although I think The Triplets of Belleville deserves that title) and I can see why a large number of people would think that. Le Roi et L'Oiseau is indeed a near perfect film, a one of a kind masterpiece, and it ranks just behind the Sylvain Chomet-tale in my hierarchy of French animation.

French Animation, Chapitre 1 - The Triplets of Belleville

Foreword
This is the first in a series of French animated film reviews I will be doing in the near future. This won't be an exhaustive list, as I'll only be talking about films that deserve to be reviewed; there are a few that I think are not as renowned as they should be, and I'll using this column to help resolve this. Spoiler alert: all reviews will therefore be favorable to the movie they discuss.
And here it goes...