AFI FEST Los Angeles International Film Festival 2009

This wacky, wonderful, and thoroughly absurdist feature-length film continues the misadventures of Cowboy, Indian and Horse, stars of Belgium’s cult favorite TV show of the same title. The three stop-motion heroes have their regular bouts of personal drama (done with hilarious effect by the talented voices of the show and film’s creators, Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar), but these petty skirmishes and debacles are ratcheted up a notch for the big screen with the accidental purchasing by Indian of 50 million bricks. A few fumbles later, Horse’s house is destroyed and must be rebuilt. This proves no easy task, especially after a gang of mischievous, underage water monsters get involved! Amidst all the silliness, it’s impossible not to notice that A TOWN CALLED PANIC revolves around an impressively inventive plot. Deftly, beautifully animated, the film achieves a rare thing: humor wildly appealing to audiences of all ages.

–Beth Hanna