The animation genre is best mastered by the Hollywood movie empire. Agree, the country of dreams is a leader in the production of not only full-fledged paintings, but also children's cartoons, which require patience and long months of painstaking preparation to create. Other foreign colleagues cannot yet boast of the same successes. Nevertheless, bypassing the main competitors, the French filmmakers took a chance, presenting to the audience court a new animated work called “Flap Your Wing!”. Whether they managed to conquer young viewers and their parents, we will try to find out.
“Heavenly” idea
The relatively new French film company Compagnie Cinématographique boasts several feature films of various genres released since its inception. But animation is a completely new genre for her. In 2013, screenwriters Antoine Barro and Cory Edwards showed management a draft script for a future project. The plot was built around one small bird, represented by a sort of slut, always shabby, but, as practice has shown, incredibly brave, able to climb the sky.
How much this idea could attract viewers remained unclear. But the cartoon, as if enlisting moral support, received a very symbolic name - “Flap your wing!”. Viewers still had to get feedback. Only time and recognition (or non-recognition) by the public could give a clear answer to the question: what the company lost, and what won the recognition. After all, the prestige of a new film company on the market was put at stake, because the cartoon had high hopes. And the company began work on the film “Flap Your Wing!”. 2014 (the year of release) promised to become hot - the picture had to compete with impressive competitors, the films “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and “The Monster Family”.
Brighter images, more credibility
Over the course of the year, cartoon artists created prototypes of the main characters. There were several of them, and each had to be somewhat different from the rest. The film “Flap your wing!” also included many different landscapes and natural realities. Without this, it is difficult to imagine a cartoon about birds that were to soar in the sky and look at the earth from top to bottom. Therefore, the artists needed to bring the overall picture as close as possible to reality, including the prescribed streets and squares. The directorial post was given to Christian De Vita. The debutant was not afraid to take up “Wing the Wing!”, And the best decorators of the partner studios Haut et Court, Panache Productions and TeamTO were involved as help.
Yellowstone in the center of the plot
For an easy-to-understand narrative, an equally simple story was required. First of all, the cartoon “Flap Your Wing!” was designed for children's audiences, which will not understand the intricacies of storylines. By the way, the picture was intended to be viewed by all generations, without age restrictions. However, many distributors suggested giving her PG status. In world cinema, this means the desired presence of parents, in this case, when viewing “Flap your wing!”.
Thus, the scriptwriters narrowed the plot, making the main character a small bird named Chizhik. He always dreamed of conquering the peaks, but remained cowardly and clogged. Before being sent to the warm African lands, the leader with Darius is in trouble - he contacts an angry cat, which deprives him of the ability to manage articles. He selects Chizhik as the commander in chief, shows the way, gives some advice, and a small bird in front of his eyes takes courage. Rising into the sky, now Chizhik is responsible not only for himself, but also for his entire team. In addition, he has to learn to be a leader, although among the whole pack there are those who may not like it. That was the key script idea of ​​the film “Wing the Wing!”. The feedback from a large audience, whose evaluations the studio was waiting for, was to show whether the creators managed to realize the idea.
The course is the premiere of the film!
The premiere took place on October 11, 2014 in the UK, at the International Festival in London. In the United States, the cartoon “Flap your wing!” appeared on December 5th. France limited itself to the last place in a series of prime ministers. In the country of origin, rental is scheduled for February 18, 2015. The decision of the distributors to release the cartoon at different times came as a surprise to many viewers. Our country was one of the first to buy the rights to display the “Flap your wing!” Tape. 2014, November 6 - the date of the premiere of the cartoon.
Given the significant difference in release dates, it is too early to draw conclusions about overall success. But something can already be said about Russia. For several weeks, the cartoon was in theaters. The total number of domestic viewers of the picture “Flap your wing!” exceeded 335 thousand people. It should be noted and fees. In our country, they amounted to over 1.3 million dollars.
This result is a good indicator. The film “Flap Your Wing!”, Reviews of which were still expected from foreign viewers, until it was fully appreciated, there was no clear picture of its success. But those who already watched it were ready to share their impressions.
Children and adults were satisfied with viewing the adventures of birds. First of all, the cartoon “Flap Your Wing!” pleasantly impressed with the qualities that the scriptwriters generously awarded Chizhik. A sort of lack of luck, he believes in his strength to the last, relying on intuition. Throughout the journey, a team of birds will fall into a storm, encounter hunters, stray off course, and even meet with an “iron bird”.
The similarity is in the difference!
In order not to create a visual picture of similar birds for the audience, the animators did not forget about their difference from each other. In the first place it consisted of character: endowed with completely human qualities, the main characters turned into harmful, arrogant, cowardly, good-natured and soft creatures. On top of that, minor characters also looked diverse. So, for example, the thick seals caused laughter, and the silly hares turned out to be very funny. In a word, a real mixture of explosive characters was created, harmoniously beaten in the animated film “Flap Your Wings!”. Reviews of the film are proof of this.
On a trip - only with good!
A distinctive feature was the absence of negative images. It is impossible not to notice and not appreciate. On the other hand, young viewers of “Flap Your Wing!” they were waiting for some opposition to a whole team of goodies. By and large, the villains are not provided for by the author’s intention at all, nor is the struggle between good and evil. Instead, we see a lot of funny, positive moments and children's jokes that create a pleasant mood when watching. Cartoon “Flap your wing!” It’s like a trip. An adventure that includes a lot of trials that end safely. And a sweet aftertaste after the end credits.
Old tale of the main
The viewer will be right in speaking of another story of a loser chosen to accomplish great things. Of course, paintings such as “Flap your Wing!” Are needed constantly to maintain the desire in people to be better than they are now. Especially if, with genuine ease, this is presented by the example of birds to a young audience. All the strength of the spirit, like thunder from a clear sky, falls upon the yellow-handed Chizhik, and he has no choice but to accept the challenge and hold the blow to the end. Let his formation as a leader follow the patterns we studied a thousand times, viewing takes place in one breath - so that small viewers can not sit still!
No music anywhere
What kind of animation creation without soundtrack? The musical component is unobtrusive, it harmoniously complements the actions taking place on the plot of “Flap your wing!”. The reviews of the audience indicate the right decision to give the Russian voice acting to the characters by famous figures in show business.
Vadim Galygin, who gave Karl a voice, is very good at his masterful transformation. Pelagia simply amazed with her vocal abilities, literally making her ladybug come to life. Alexey Vorobyov also adequately coped with the task - in some moments to find out that this is a popular singer and actor is extremely difficult.
The best is for children!
Speaking of the general impression of the cartoon, it is impossible to say anything bad.
Everything that comes to mind is exceptionally positive. There is no vulgarity, good humor, an original idea embodied on the screen, an instructive aspect and a good mood - all this is connected in the film “Flap your wing!”. Reviews of the cartoon prove that it is a bright and worthy product. By its strength, it is in no way inferior to competitors and main predecessors. In particular, it is very similar to “Rio”, where the main characters were also birds embarking on a long and fun adventure. Really warm cartoon “Flap your wing!” contributes to the creation of family comfort, becoming an excellent occasion for an evening pastime.