The Academy Award-nominated French animated film Ernest & Celestine has received a full-length sequel with Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia. Rendered in the same gorgeous animation style that helped make its 2012 predecessor an international success, A Trip to Gibberitia doubles down on the cross-species friendship between its titular leads while emphasizing the power of joy. Moving at a brisk pace with plenty of swashbuckling action, A Trip to Gibberitia is as entertaining and heartwarming as the original film, upping the ante with higher stakes and daring action.
After the jovial bear Ernest's prized violin is broken, he and his best friend, the inquisitive mouse Celestine, travel to Ernest's hometown of Gibberitia to have it properly repaired and restored to its former glory. Upon their arrival, Ernest is shocked to find the beloved music store he acquired the violin from closed, and music has been banned throughout the town as he and Celestine incur the wrath of the local authorities. Fortunately, a masked avenger defiantly roaming the rooftops of Gibberitia works with the pair to help reinstate joyful noise into the community.
There is a warm, inviting quality to the hand-drawn animation of A Trip to Gibberitia, even in its sequences set in the dead of winter as Ernest and Celestine brave a frigid blizzard. The color palette and use of shadow take on additional nuance once Ernest and Celestine reach Gibberitia and face the story's antagonists. They don't really make feature-length animated movies like this in Hollywood anymore, and this film is the perfect showcase for the often-overlooked medium's beauty and storytelling potential.
Story-wise, A Trip to Gibberitia is easily accessible to those unfamiliar with the original film and its television spinoff series as a fresh jumping-on point. The core appeal of the Ernest & Celestine stories, as with the Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, has always been the oddball friendship between its eponymous protagonists. Even with all the action and light social commentary, that remains true here, with the film wisely focusing on its leads and how they weather this particular challenge together.
A Trip to Gibberitia's message of self-expression being able to indulge in personal joy feels both timely and timeless. The animated movie is not especially heavy-handed in its messaging, but the point is made clearly and saliently as the citizens of Gibberitia simply accept the government-imposed restrictions as the new status quo. To cover all this ground adequately in less than an hour and a half highlights an economy in storytelling that many bloated features could stand to take a few pointers from.
A reminder of the power of hand-drawn animation and a worthy sequel to the widely acclaimed first film, Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, is an instant classic. Masterfully distributed into North American theaters by GKIDS, who have introduced many American audiences to great animated fare from overseas, there is a universal appeal to A Trip to Gibberitia suitable for audiences of all ages. Catch this one in theaters while you can.
Directed by Julien Chheng and Jean-Christophe Roger, Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia is in theaters now.