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A Town Called Panic

Play trailer 1:51 Poster for A Town Called Panic PG Released Dec 16, 2009 1h 15m Kids & Family Adventure Comedy Fantasy Animation Play Trailer Watchlist
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81% Tomatometer 73 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
In this animated film, Cowboy (Stéphane Aubier) and Indian (Bruce Ellison) plan to construct a barbecue pit for the birthday of their friend, Horse (Vincent Patar). The delivery of an accidental purchase of 50 million bricks rather than the intended 50 destroys their house, and attempts to rebuild are foiled when their walls are continually stolen. Determined to track down the thieves, the trio travels to the center of the earth, where they discover the culprits are a group of mad scientists.
A Town Called Panic

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Critics Consensus

A Town Called Panic is a raucous, endlessly creative animated romp with a quirky, adult sense of humor.

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Critics Reviews

View All (73) Critics Reviews
Nicolas Rapold Film Comment Magazine The frenetic scenarios should play fairly well as energizing for kids and ridiculous for adults. Sep 24, 2014 Full Review Hank Sartin Time Out Rated: 1/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Rated: 2/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row Aubier and Patar aren't trying to make any profound statements about life or create any existential conundrums, they're just looking to entertain, and in A Town Called Panic, they have found a gloriously wacky avenue to do just that. Rated: 3/4 Aug 5, 2019 Full Review Rachel Wagner Rachel's Reviews (YouTube) This is film is so hard to describe but it's just absurdist and ridiculous and...funny. Rated: 8/10 Feb 13, 2019 Full Review Daniel Green CineVue A Town Called Panic's frenetic pace and bizarre set pieces are truly refreshing and a joy to behold. Rated: 4/5 Nov 5, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (358) audience reviews
spencer p One of the most gloriously random animated comedies of all time, with hilariously rapid-fire gags erupting all over the place while maintaining a surprisingly strong theme of community. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Horse, Cowboy and Indian live on one hill. Horse is the brains of the household, Cowboy and Indian the adolescent creators of chaos. Steve, his wife, his cows and his precious tractor live on the other hill and Steve is permanently pissed off. Whether you ring his doorbell or touch his studio, I mean tractor, you're gonna get yelled at. Imagine all of this as a French stop-frame animation using little plastic toys that live in a town called Panic! In a nutshell It is Horse's birthday. Cowboy and Indian decide to build him a "braai". (I kid you not.) For this purpose they need fifty bricks, but as fate would have it, they accidentally order fifty million bricks! On horse's account! The bigger problem is not how to hide the bill for fifty million bricks from Horse, but the actual fifty million bricks! Mood of the film Panicky! Raucous! Over the top. Best performance Cowboy wins the Oscar. He carries a gun and lasso, wears cowboy hat and boots, but he still screeches like a banshee at the mere sight of trouble. (Or dons flip-flops, shorts and a Hawaiian-style shirt and books a flight to Miami!) Stand-out scene The whole film is one crazy, over-the-top scene after the other. In fact, the scenes follow one another so fast, I had to pause and rewind a few. One I watched three times is Horse coming home late at night. He drives "through" the new braai. The centre strip of the car, including the engine, gets stuck behind the braai. The two sides of the car end up in front of the braai. Horse goes straight over it. It is funnier when you watch it, I promise. Negatives? I love any type of animation. The Triplets of Belleville is one of my favourite films ever. Even though it is French, it does not need one subtitle, because there is no spoken dialogue in the film. Animation is not everybody's cup of tea. Is the film relevant today? Brilliance such as A Town called Panic is sorely needed in an ocean of mediocre film. If we all strive towards brilliance in life we'd live in an awesome society. The film is also a good laugh! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Magnificent just a perfect movie verry funny and the story is verry good i love it Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member It isn't much in the way of character development or themes, but A Town Called Panic's charming animation style, brisk pacing, and amazing sense of humor make it a joy to watch from start to finish. It is bizarre and strange, but if you are willing to give into its strangeness, it'll be hard to wipe the smile off your face. If you're looking for something different, definitely check it out. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Surrealistic storytelling, characterization and visuals? Check! A fresh, original story with plenty of fun? Double check! Be ready for quite the ride in this small French stop-animation comedy about three friends -- an Indian, a horse and a cowboy living together and trying to live their strange, manic lives! Just as inthe movie UP, Panique au Village is a lot more entertaining than its simple premise would lead you believe and definitely worth the watch if you want something a tad different in presentation and plot. Check it out! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Gleefully nonsensical and hilariously unique, A Town Called Panic is fun for everyone. Grade: A- Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Town Called Panic

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this animated film, Cowboy (Stéphane Aubier) and Indian (Bruce Ellison) plan to construct a barbecue pit for the birthday of their friend, Horse (Vincent Patar). The delivery of an accidental purchase of 50 million bricks rather than the intended 50 destroys their house, and attempts to rebuild are foiled when their walls are continually stolen. Determined to track down the thieves, the trio travels to the center of the earth, where they discover the culprits are a group of mad scientists.
Director
Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Producer
Philippe Kauffmann, Vincent Tavier
Screenwriter
Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Distributor
Zeitgeist
Production Co
Les Films du Grognon, Beast Productions, La Parti Production, Mélusine Productions, RTBF, Made in Productions, Gebeka Films
Rating
PG
Genre
Kids & Family, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 16, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 12, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$165.3K
Runtime
1h 15m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)