Friday night, The Cesars (aka the French Oscars) were handed out. French animation is a tough game though. The Cesars have the awards for animated film lumped together in one category, which means that either a short or a feature can win. The feature film, Ernest and Celestine (or Ernest et Célestine if we want to stay French), walked away with the award.

The film was directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, and Stéphane Aubier. It was based off of the popular children’s book series by the author and illustrator Gabrielle Vincent, and follows the unusual friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a mouse, Celestine. 

Okay, so all of the clips for this film are in French, but the animation looks beautiful, and the mouse especially looks adorable. Luckily, it looks like it will soon be in English. GKIDS, a distributer of award-winning animation, announced in August that the film will be released in America in the fall of 2013. As this film looks adorably sweet, I can’t wait until I get to hear everything in English.

According to Eric Beckman, the GKIDS president, “We are overjoyed to be bringing Ernest & Celestine to US audiences. The film is a triumph of 2D animation and storytelling. A phenomenally beautiful hand painted watercolor design, immensely likable characters, a wonderful ‘friendship against all odds’ story that sweeps you up and does not waste a single minute of screen time. It is just overflowing with warmth and playful visual humor, there is so, so much to like about this movie.”

Is anyone else as excited as I am for this movie? It has already been tested against other French films and won. Hopefully this proves that it will win with American audiences after proving itself with French audiences.

Sources: Cartoon Brew