Los caracoles

This was an odd cartoon, for several reasons. It was in the middle of this DVD collection I bought of 1930s cartoons and this was made in 1965. It also is French. It also is more of a science-fiction story out of the 1950s, or even a horror story, much more than a comedy which one normally associations with cartoons. An "animated short" is a better description of this strange story.

That story is about a farmer who is trying to grow lettuce. He has no luck until he discovers one day that his tears make the salad grow. He brings an onion with him and then hits himself our the head - whatever it takes to make him cry and produce these big heads of lettuce. The bad news is that snails invade these big vegetables and the snails turn out to be giants. They invade the nearby city and capture the humans, kids and adults. If this were a '50s film, you just know it would be called "Attack Of The Giant (or Killer) Snails!"

These escargots (snails) even demolish the city's buildings! What happens after that is even more bizarre, but funny.

I found the artwork strange, too: excellent in spots and primitive in others. Although I found it all interesting, I wasn't quite sure what to think as far as entertainment value. It's more of a curiosity piece. However, if the pace wasn't so slow, this could have been really good because the premise was good.

Every film of René Laloux force you to think and to make and effort to imagine more than Laloux visually offers. Nowadays seems it isn't an easy and pleasant activity. Unfortunately, we don't have time to the extremely slow and methodical pace of his way of filming.

His old-fashioned animation delightfully remembers the cartoons of my childhood. But in this case the plot is weaker than other Laloux shorts and films.

I strongly recommend the masterpiece "Comment Wang-Fo fut sauvé". Based on a novel embodied in the 1936 book "Nouvelles orientales" written by Marguerite Yourcenar.

An old man tries to grow crops on a strange planet. He has no success, even though he waters them. Frustrated, he begins to cry and his tears cause the plants to grow to enormous size. However, at night, snails begin to invade his crops and they grow to an enormous size and begin to attack the planet's inhabitants. Even though they are slow moving it seems they can't be outrun (remember the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes). It's s silly little plot with unique animation in a sort of Monty Python style.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I love this short! It's a spoof of kaiju eiga with giant SNAILS! No, really! They wreck cars, destroy buildings, and even chase people! Honestly, you'd think a person could outrun a snail, even one the size of a Sherman tank! It's hilarious!!!

A strange short piece - I watched this because I like René Laloux's Fantastic Planet a lot. If you like strange and odd things and got the chance put this 10 minute running piece on your screen, you won't regret it, or at least won't lose much time.