Sylvain Chomet is one of the world’s best animation filmmakers. It’s not just his seminal “The Triplets of Belleville,” but also the wonderful 2010 Tati tribute The Illusionist, which, notably, was his last animated film.
We’re eagerly anticipating Chomet’s “The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol,” set to be his first animated feature in 15 years. The film premiered yesterday at Cannes.
In the meantime, Chomet told THR that his next project is not only silent but also a spin-off of The Triplets of Belleville:
My next film will be completely silent again. I’m doing a sort of spin-off of The Triplets of Belleville, but this time without the bicycles. There’s a cat now. It’s more about the triplets—the big, tall ladies. There’ll be lots of music but no dialogue.
I’m going to start storyboarding very soon, within a month or so, and we’re going to use the same team as we did with Pagnol. I wrote the story at the same time as Triplets, 25 years ago now, so it’s fresh from my early mind. It’s completely bonkers. Back to the roots.
As for “The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol,” it screened last night at Cannes’ low-key Agnès Varda Theater. While official reviews haven’t been released yet, early reactions on Letterboxd appear to be fairly muted.