Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

There's near-universal acclaim for this movie among critics and viewers, so mine is definitely a minority opinion. While I enjoyed the movie, the story just didn't make much sense to me or seem at all consistent. The various actions of the characters, their situation in life didn't make much sense to me. The dual tracks of the above/below ground worlds of bear/mouse society were odd.But what bothered me most about the film, especially as a film for children, was the relationship between the two main characters. It went beyond that of what we traditionally think of as close friends, who, while greatly enjoying each other's company, still want to be part of society and be with others. The relationship between Ernest & Celestine is much more that of lovers, happy if the entire world goes to hell so long as they can be together. Celestine is a "her" at one point of the film; whether Ernestine's gender is ever revealed I don't know. But the relationship seems to be that of of a big, strong, dumb male and a petite, weak, smart female...of different species.Probably 98% of readers will respond "it's just a fairy tale," "you're reading too much into it," "yours is a narrow, conservative view of love" etc. But for me, the movie sends a confusing message to children of friendship versus love, especially given the different species of the characters.

This is a true family animation film, as it has a sweet story, but one that can be enjoyed by adults, a simple animation that doesn't go into weird and complex techniques that confuse the eye but instead focuses on context and characters and a benign kind of plot. That is perhaps because it is based on a series of children's books of the same name published by the Belgian author Gabrielle Vincent.The story is that of two societies that are content to live separately and leave each other alone: bears and mice. However a young mouse is intrigued by the world of bears and befriends one other outcast: Ernest the penniless street artist, while both cultures are trying to punish the transgression.It is not a perfect film. The character of Ernest, while lovable some of the time, it is mostly annoying. Celestine herself is poorly defined as a character, as well. But the flow of the story is smooth and the film fun. I recommend it, especially if you have small children.

This film was nominated for the Oscar for Animated Feature. There will be spoilers ahead:This is a beautiful film about a most unlikely friendship between a mouse and a bear. Mice are taught to fear and hate bears and bears are similarly taught to do the same with mice. But Ernest is not a typical bear and Celestine is no ordinary mouse. Both are a bit out of step with their own world, but remarkably good as a pair when they come together. They complement one another and they are both artists.Ernest is basically a very large and furry kid at heart, given to very simple reactions to pretty much everything, unless he's playing music-and even there, he has a playful side, as shown by his busking early in the film. He inadvertently helps Celestine out of a jam, has designs on eating her, but she points him towards candy, a much better treat than one tiny mouse.Ernest, in turn, winds up in trouble, to have Celestine help him out. One thing leads to another and they both wind up in deep trouble and hiding out at Ernest's house, where they develop a bond together.Everything is wrapped up in a most intense closing series of scenes which teach tolerance, the true value of courage and the strengths of friendship. It's a truly heartwarming film.This is available on Blu-Ray and DVD and is well worth watching. Most highly recommended.

As a person who works in animation, I don't tend to watch a lot of animation. I actually have hardly seen the features I worked on. I watched bits and pieces during the production but usually by the time they came out, I was on the next project and to be honest I couldn't bother. I worked on 6 feature productions(not mentioning the countless TV productions) of which 3 were among the most expensive Hollywood productions and 3 were European, so I worked on productions of both "worlds". None had the sincerity and appeal Ernest and Célestine has to me. I totally missed this one while it was in production and was released(I know, it's pathetic) and only noticed it because it was nominated at the Oscars. I immediately watched video clips and thought WOW. Great art, great animation, appealing characters and the overall look was completely stunning. I knew the French are great when it comes to animation because they were among the best animators on all the Hollywood productions I worked for. I immediately bought the DVD and was blown away. It's so sincere and endearing that it's refreshing to see this among all the generic stuff that got me tired of watching animation. Being a person who works in the industry it sounds absurd. I completely lost faith that animation still can be good after years of formula productions. I do like Miyasaki but I have to admit, I was never the super fan. It became even more apparent when I tried to watch Ponyo straight after watching this movie. What I like about Ernest & Célestine is that I keep on watching small bits of it because I just love watching the details, the animation, the situations and everything. It's small things like when Ernest discovers Célestine in the garbage can and first kicks the can to wake her up, then pokes her, her reaction, then it goes on when Ernest tries to eat Célestine, her reaction to that and finally the starving Ernest ending up in the candy store with the scene turning into hilarious slapstick. The whole scene is pure brilliance just like the rest of the movie. It doesn't get any better than this or at least it will be hard to top. This is a must see if you really love animation.This makes me hopeful that there might be more good stuff to come but until then this will be one of my all time favorite animation features ever.