Appuntamento a Belleville

The title comes from the trio of singers who introduce the film: Blanche, Rose and Violette. But the story of the cartoon is about Champion (who looks like Fausto Coppi) and Madame Souza who tries to take away the sadness he’s showing. After the failed attempt of a dog named Bruno, what seems to finally make Champion happy is a tricycle and in fact, after his passion grows more and more, he will participate to the Tour de France, which is the most desired goal of cyclists with the Giro d'Italia. Unfortunately, he and two others competitors are kidnapped by some gangsters, but Madame Souza along with Bruno will follow their tracks and defeat the gang. The drawings, just as in Chomet’s first short film, are very "adult", they're not glossy as in some American productions. References of the love for Jacques Tati (even the fact that there aren't many dialogues and that there is a positive prevalence of the pantomime), to his Jour de fête (The Big Day) and Les vacances de M. Hulot (Monsieur Hulot's Holiday) can be felt. You can feel the Thirties and the Fifties but this nostalgia for those years invigorates the story rather than weaken it. It was presented out of competition at the Cannes Festival and had a great success everywhere, it was also nominated for an Oscar. An example of how you can get excellent animated feature films in Europe.