Let's be realistic.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Simple story of the power of a life of hope, generosity, and perseverance.Animated, well-drawn.A man spends years planting trees, gradually transforming a wasteland into a forest; changes the area from one supporting a few ornery people into thriving towns.Seems like a true story.Set in the years between WWI and WWII in Provence, in southeastern France, at an altitude of about 1000 meters.Well done, worth a look.

THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES was the Academy Award winning Best Animated Short for 1988. However, I did not see the original French language version (narrated by Philippe Noiret) but the English language one (narrated by Christopher Plummer). Plummer's voice was very sweet and melodious--perfect for this gentle little film.The film is a supposedly true story about an odd man who lives in the middle of nowhere--planting trees and living very contentedly with the land. To heighten the effect, the film is gorgeously hand rendered using what appear to perhaps be colored pencils--making a wonderfully colorful and artistic tapestry--something you could never achieve with traditional animation. Perfect for the film and truly an amazing piece of art--like something that should be in a museum exhibit.A lovely little tale about ecology and mankind. It's not exactly exciting--see it for its beauty and for its strong emotional impact. If by the time you've finished watching this film if you aren't touched, then you are probably dead!

I can't remember the last time I was so moved by an animated film. It is truly a work of art, lyrical, and inspired. The story is a very nice parable, but the way it was told by the artist here is incredibly moving. Many years of work (eight?)by the team of animators headed by Frederick Back created this 30-minute film. Only the loving product of the heart and of the right brain could yield art like this. Christopher Plummer's voice evokes the wise elder of the film's subject, and the music provides a background that blends well with the gentle crayon and charcoal drawings that form this work, but it is the drawings that are the centerpiece, in my opinion, although some might say it was the story. The work moved me to tears without any of the manipulation of most modern films. I could imagine children and teenagers being inspired and moved by this, also, and I think it should be shown to all children. I echo other viewers' recommendation that this would make a wonderful gift for someone you love, at any age.

Animation changed greatly after the major studios (Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM, etc.) stopped producing their own animated works. This 30 minute short is one of the best of the period since the major studios regularly produced animated shorts based on cels.This 30 minute, Oscar-winning production of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is an animated portrayal of a French "Johnny Appleseed", who did his work among the turmoil of World War I. Both men, Johnny Appleseed and Elzear Bouffier, the subject of this film, were real men who appreciated the importance of trees on the land. This film is not widely available. Videotapes can be ordered from Direct Cinema in Harriman, New York.