Poupelle of Chimney Town

Mia2.0

Poupelle of Chimney Town (3DS) - Full Game Movie (All Cutscenes)

ZombieTrex3.5

Rough around the edges, but the end product is just wholesome enough to get a pass from me. Poupelle of Chimney Town works off the backs of it's much better predecessors, succeeding at what they were able to accomplish, yet never excelling beyond that. Once you hear the description of the plot and apply the family adventure genre formula to it, you already know everything that’s going to happen. A young boy befriends a misfit sentient pile of garbage, and the two one day dream of clearing the skies of smoke and finally being able to see the stars, despite the evil regime that stands in their way. The movie never surprised me with its story, but it did have a tendency to impress me with its execution. The two main leads have a likable chemistry, and their ambitions help craft them into sympathetic protagonists. The world they inhabit is visually stunning and can even be proficient at compelling worldbuilding. Again, it doesn’t really excel at any of these aspects, and it certainly disappoints in some of them, but it managed to elicit emotions from me, nonetheless.The biggest issue with the film is definitely the animation, as Studio 4C has opted for a 3D CG approach to its characters with 2D backgrounds. I don’t think it looks bad, per se, but it does give the film a certain stale vibe, given how stilted movements can be. I think this film would have packed a much harder punch if it was strictly 2D animation, seeing as how Studio 4C has created some of the best animation in the industry with some of the previous outings. Obviously, they could have chosen 3D for time or budget reasons, so maybe it's not fair to be too harsh to them about it, but I just think this world would have really come alive with better animation.Poupelle of Chimney Town is a film that I don’t imagine a lot of people will see, seeing as how I was the only one in the theater watching it, and it hasn’t even gotten 1k watches on Letterboxd. And I can see a lot of people being turned off from this film by the animation style and the trailer. But I’m really glad I got to see this hidden gem, on the big screen no less. It’s not going to work for everybody, but if you are at all curious, I really recommend giving it a shot.2020 Films Ranked

Nick3.0

Kind of a mix between The Iron Giant, The Lorax, and Detective Pikachu.I really enjoyed this. With an animation style reminiscent of a Nintendo game a few generations back, it might feel a bit clunky at first, but it is fluid and, honestly, a bit refreshing how different it is. It certainly grows on you.The story here is the real selling point as it’s heartfelt and impactful. You wouldn’t guess just by reading the description, but it’s a tale of totalitarian government corruption. There’s corrupt police forces, propaganda against certain individuals, and even assassination attempts. The whole works.My one main gripe besides the animation taking a bit to get used to is that the side characters don’t get much screen time.I actually don’t have a ton to say here, but I’d certainly recommend giving this a watch and looking past the animation style at first. It really is a treat and I wish I had been able to catch this in theaters. I watched it on the Roku channel for free if you’re interested in watching it too.