Legendary animator Chuck Jones derided the quality of television animation by calling it “illustrated radio”. His argument was that if you could turn a cartoon’s sound off and still know what was happening, that was animation. However, if you turned the picture off and still knew what was going on, then that was “illustrated radio”. Though the dialogue heavy Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol falls into the latter category, turning the picture off would be a grave mistake. This biopic of French filmmaker Marcel Pagnol contains some of the most exquisite hand-drawn animation seen in years.

​

Discouraged by the reception of his latest play, Pagnol fears that time has passed him by. Hélène Gordon-Lazareff will have none of it, and commissions the filmmaker to serialise his memoirs for her Elle magazine. As the deadline fast approaches, Pagnol is visited upon by his younger self, who seamlessly guides him through his childhood in Marseille, early success as a playwright, and career as a filmmaker. 

​

Recalling Disney’s 1960’s animated films, when the new Xerox process heavily influenced the style of One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone, Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol showcases director Sylvain Chomet’s fine draughtsmanship but rarely embraces the fanciful. The exceptions, most notably the translucent apparitions of his younger self and long-departed mother, are impressively executed.

​

For the most part though, the biopic presents a rather stolid, respectful depiction of a magnificent life.​​