triplets of bellville

ok, so we watched this animated feature on dvd last night, as a welcome break from lotr/rotk again.........and such a welcome surprise.......i had not heard of it prior to the oscars, where it was up against brother bear ( a disney yawner....) and finding nemo.......gentle readers.....i did enjoy finding nemo......but i knew when it started where it would probably end......and i could probably guess about many of the creatures that would be encountered in the middle....like a shark, sea turtles, schools of fish......ocean currents.....yep.....you could see it coming ( or sea it coming....nyuck nyuck....nyuck..) but with the triplets......there was nothing but pure joy at the unexpectedness of every turn in the nearly wordless plot......i did not see any of it coming........not the tricycle....nor the grandma training her grandson for the big race on the tricycle....nor the big dog who feels compelled to bark at the train despite the climb up the steps each and every time it comes by......and especially not the triplets.....and their curious recipes for frogs....nor the french wine mafia who kidnap the grandson for their equally unexpected foulplay........such an underrated film.......and the visually compelling.....it really reminded me of the best of the 30's and 40's cartoons.......and has the feel of handdrawn though i suspect that it was computer animated like all the others these days........go out and rent this one.....