Ernest & Celestine (2012)

Ernest & Celestine is one of those rarities that contemporary cinema almost no longer produces: an honest fable, without an agenda, that trusts in the beauty of simplicity. The watercolor animation —delicate, handcrafted— builds a world where bears and mice live separated by inherited prejudices, without questioning them. Ernest, a bohemian musician bear, and Célestine, a little mouse who rejects the path laid out for her, find in their friendship something more real than the social conventions that surround them. The film does not preach: it shows. It does not manipulate: it trusts that the viewer will see for themselves that genuine loyalty is worth more than the approval of the herd. The message is classic —true friendship transcends artificial barriers— but it is told with a tenderness and a respect for childhood that have become infrequent. Without significant violence, without cynical irony, without murky subtexts. For parents, it is a refuge: a work they can show their children with the peace of mind that what they will see is beauty, virtue, and common sense. A gem.