April and the Extraordinary World
Suppose some event in history happened a little bit differently than it did; what effect would it have on our world? April and the Extraordinary World is an animated movie about a young woman named April Franklin (Angela Galuppo), who lives in a steampunk-inspired alternate version of Paris in the year 1941, along with her talking cat, Darwin (Tony Hale). Her world has been overrun with industry--all of the forests of Europe have since been leveled due to a dearth of scientific advancement for alternative energy sources. Yet April possesses a secret that may hold the answers to everything from eternal life to restoring the planet to its former glory.
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The catalyst that differentiates April's world from our own is a fictional event from the year 1870. April's great-grandfather is secretly developing the "ultimate serum" for the purpose of creating an invincible army for Emperor Napoleon III in preparation for the impending Franco-Prussian War. But he is killed in a freak explosion, setting off a chain of events that lead to everything from a pair of sentient Komodo dragons--the aggressive Rodrigue (J.K. Simmons) and his level-headed mate, Chimène (Susan Sarandon)--escaping and kidnapping the world's leading scientists, to an out-of-control "industrial revolution" in Europe, leading to mass deforestation and exclusive use of coal, wood, and steam as primary energy sources. Because of the resource shortage, the imperial French monarchy has made it a law that scientists must serve the empire and bolster the war effort for a prospective invasion of America for their wood and coal. April's scientist parents--Paul (Mark Camacho) and Annelle (Macha Grenon)--are considered outlaws, and are apparently slain in a rail car accident while being pursued by a zealous detective in the Imperial French police named Gaspar Pizoni (Paul Giamatti); her grandfather, Prosper "Pops" Franklin (Tony Robinow), narrowly evades capture. For his bungling, Pizoni is demoted to an "agent" in the police, while April escapes an imperial orphanage, and spends her next ten years hiding within a massive statue of Napoleon, stealing food and chemistry books so she can replicate the formula her parents were working on. Unbeknownst to April, her parents were whisked away by an airship disguised as a black thundercloud, and her mother injected the contents of their prototype serum into her snow globe, making her memento more valuable than she could expect. April's interest in recreating the ultimate serum is to save her sole companion and dear friend, Darwin--his body is giving out due to age and the copious pollution running rampant through Paris. Believing she has failed, she hurls the leaking snow globe within proximity of Darwin; he laps up some of the residue, and springs back to life. But April is forced to flee after Rodrigue and Chimène's forces try to abduct her. She partners with a thief and ex-con named Julius (Tod Fennell)--who is secretly working for Pizoni to locate Pops, whom Pizoni blames for his demotion--and tracks down her family to free them from their respective imprisonments.
April and the Extraordinary World draws inspiration from various sources in its presentation of an alternate version of history--one both scientifically more advanced and regressed than our own. The steampunk and fantasy adventure aesthetic that dominates the film is principally inspired by the works of French novelist Jules Verne, including rail cars which commute from Paris to Berlin as well as a "lost world" buried deep below the Earth's surface. The film is also influenced by the pulp novels popular in the time in which April and the Extraordinary World is set, featuring everything from talking lizard men in robot suits to a mansion that walks around on spider-like metal legs. France in the film exists under a semi-fascist regime, unconcerned with the health of its citizens, who have to walk around the city streets in gas masks due to the toxins in the atmosphere. The film draws comparisons between the expansionist France and the Third Reich, allying itself with nations like England to prepare for their inevitable invasion of the West--the direction toward which the titanic statue of Napoleon points. The world's scientists who have been taken into custody by the lizardfolk form a massive brain trust, pursuing technological advancements like an ambitious plan to terraform other planets in the solar system. This idea originates from Rodrigue and Chimène, who have become convinced that humanity will inevitably destroy itself and the Earth, and they claim that they don't want nature to die with them. The irony of removing all of the most brilliant minds from society to develop this ecological miracle is that it contributed to the world's nations relying on diminishing energy sources like coal and wood, accelerating both its poor ecological state and tensions between its nations for said resources. Most of the scientists comply with the endeavor, although some like Paul--who protest replicating the ultimate serum--are treated with hostility and imprisoned, and called "traitor" by their peers. This collusion with the lizardfolk mirrors the French Nazi sympathizers and collaborators that divided the nation before and during World War II. Despite Rodrigue and Chimène's proclamations about having mankind's interests at heart, that they cannot wholly be trusted because their final solution comes from an "ends justify the means" attitude. April has become mistrustful by necessity after living essentially like a fugitive. She is understandably skeptical of both the imperial government and the lizardfolk, seeing both as opportunists willing to exploit others for their own gain. Her relationship with Julius is more complex, his guilt-ridden betrayal of Pops to Pizoni notwithstanding; both of them are young and--despite their protestations--find one another attractive. Both have experienced the challenges of living in a system that is comfortable treating them as criminals--Darwin picks up on their similarities and unabashedly points out that they are in love with one another before they are willing to admit it. Julius comes to represent a link to a normal life for April that she had been missing for the last ten years. Along with reuniting with her family, this makes her realize that it is not ideologies or empires that hold dominion over people's hearts, but family and love which ultimately win out--a little sleight of hand can help it along, too.
Recommended for: Fans of a colorful animated film with creative steampunk designs ranging from prop-driven flying machines to steam-powered automobiles, and a compelling alternative history story that combines the fantastic writings of 19th century science fiction with pulp adventure. April and the Extraordinary World is filled with action and adventure; it is mostly a bloodless affair with little to no offensive content and a good deal of comedy, making it appropriate and entertaining for all ages.
April and the Extraordinary World draws inspiration from various sources in its presentation of an alternate version of history--one both scientifically more advanced and regressed than our own. The steampunk and fantasy adventure aesthetic that dominates the film is principally inspired by the works of French novelist Jules Verne, including rail cars which commute from Paris to Berlin as well as a "lost world" buried deep below the Earth's surface. The film is also influenced by the pulp novels popular in the time in which April and the Extraordinary World is set, featuring everything from talking lizard men in robot suits to a mansion that walks around on spider-like metal legs. France in the film exists under a semi-fascist regime, unconcerned with the health of its citizens, who have to walk around the city streets in gas masks due to the toxins in the atmosphere. The film draws comparisons between the expansionist France and the Third Reich, allying itself with nations like England to prepare for their inevitable invasion of the West--the direction toward which the titanic statue of Napoleon points. The world's scientists who have been taken into custody by the lizardfolk form a massive brain trust, pursuing technological advancements like an ambitious plan to terraform other planets in the solar system. This idea originates from Rodrigue and Chimène, who have become convinced that humanity will inevitably destroy itself and the Earth, and they claim that they don't want nature to die with them. The irony of removing all of the most brilliant minds from society to develop this ecological miracle is that it contributed to the world's nations relying on diminishing energy sources like coal and wood, accelerating both its poor ecological state and tensions between its nations for said resources. Most of the scientists comply with the endeavor, although some like Paul--who protest replicating the ultimate serum--are treated with hostility and imprisoned, and called "traitor" by their peers. This collusion with the lizardfolk mirrors the French Nazi sympathizers and collaborators that divided the nation before and during World War II. Despite Rodrigue and Chimène's proclamations about having mankind's interests at heart, that they cannot wholly be trusted because their final solution comes from an "ends justify the means" attitude. April has become mistrustful by necessity after living essentially like a fugitive. She is understandably skeptical of both the imperial government and the lizardfolk, seeing both as opportunists willing to exploit others for their own gain. Her relationship with Julius is more complex, his guilt-ridden betrayal of Pops to Pizoni notwithstanding; both of them are young and--despite their protestations--find one another attractive. Both have experienced the challenges of living in a system that is comfortable treating them as criminals--Darwin picks up on their similarities and unabashedly points out that they are in love with one another before they are willing to admit it. Julius comes to represent a link to a normal life for April that she had been missing for the last ten years. Along with reuniting with her family, this makes her realize that it is not ideologies or empires that hold dominion over people's hearts, but family and love which ultimately win out--a little sleight of hand can help it along, too.
Recommended for: Fans of a colorful animated film with creative steampunk designs ranging from prop-driven flying machines to steam-powered automobiles, and a compelling alternative history story that combines the fantastic writings of 19th century science fiction with pulp adventure. April and the Extraordinary World is filled with action and adventure; it is mostly a bloodless affair with little to no offensive content and a good deal of comedy, making it appropriate and entertaining for all ages.