Robinson & Co

First feature-length cartoon by Jacques Colombat, who had formerly worked with Paul Grimault before making several shorts, "Robinson et Compagnie" is by no means a masterpiece. What is most disappointing about it is the style less drawings, the undistinguished colors, the indifferent layout. And the fact is all the more surprising as the movie was given the Best Film Award at the Annecy Film festival. To make matters worse, Defoe's characters and the situation he puts them in are part of the world's heritage, and consequently so familiar to almost everyone that no surprise can be expected from the plot.

Luckily, "Robinson et Compagnie" benefits from redeeming features, which makes it worth seeing in spite of all its shortcomings. The film is saved indeed by a few finds, the most inspired one being Robinson's disastrous arrival in the seedy districts of London. Also very funny is Robinson's nightmare, in which his childhood memories as well as the figure of the Queen of England are hilariously distorted by Vendredi's subjective vision of them. And what a good idea to have given Robinson the face and expressions of French "monstre sacré" Michel Simon!