Babar: The Movie

Babar: The Movie is a 1989 Canadian-French traditional animated film based on the characters of Jean de Brunhoff's eponymous children's books, and a follow-up to the first season of the Babar TV series.
It was made by Canada's Nelvana Limited and France's Ellipse Programmé, and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was also the last animated feature production by Nelvana until 1997's Pippi Longstocking, and another Babar film in 1999, Babar: King of the Elephants.
==Plot==
On the night of Elephantland's Victory Parade, Babar tells his four children the story of his first days as King of the elephants.
On his first day as king, he is asked to choose a name for Elephantland's Annual Parade. Babar promptly selects one, but is informed by the bureaucratic-minded lords that the matter must be thoroughly examined by committee.
Then, Babar's cousin, Celeste interrupts to tell Babar that her home has been attacked by Rataxes, the rhinoceros lord, and his horde. The chancellors scoff and rubuff her, but Babar orders an elephant army to be called up immediately to defeat the rhinos, if partly because he wants to impress Celeste.
But, due to the heel-dragging of his ultra-conservative ministers, Babar learns that the muster will take at least three days. Not willing to wait any longer, Babar tells his cousin Arthur, Celeste's brother, to take care of his job as King while he ventures off on his own to help their mother, amid dangerous jungle. He finds Celeste's village aflame; the rhinos are taking the adult elephants as slaves so that they can work on building a rhino city. Babar tries to intervene, but is knocked senseless for his trouble.
When he comes to, Babar rescues Celeste out of the town well, and they set off to rescue her mother, and the other pachyderms, from Rataxes' wrath. Along the way, they meet a monkey named Zephir, who gives them the location of the rhinos' base. The two come face to face with Rataxes himself, who plans to invade Babar's kingdom by twilight, and are put in jail, but they both escape along with Zephir, and race back to Elephantland to save it.
Heading into the rhinos' tents, they disguise themselves as one of the warriors, asking for "special detail" of their plans for attack, but to no avail. They get away from Rataxes quickly, launching from a catapult and landing in a fountain, much to the surprise of Babar's advisors.
The evil rhino proclaims Elephantland will be destroyed in an hour, absent unconditional surrender. To buy time, Babar orders the two ministers to distract Rataxes with their "committee" procedure. The elephant army takes some action into their hands, and a giant elephant float, built by Babar and company, scares off Rataxes' soldiers.
At sunrise, Babar's friends congratulate him on saving the day and his town, but are surprised to learn that their very first Victory Parade will be held during the afternoon. It has gone by that name ever since, the older Babar recalls, because the committee could not find any other name for it.
As Babar finishes his tale, he finds that his children have all gone to sleep. Right after he closes the door, they re-enact scenes from the story until their father tells them to get back to bed.
==Voice Cast==
Character 	English 	French 	Quebec
Babar 	Gordon Pinsent (king)Gavin Magrath (boy) 	Christian Alers 	Vincent Davy
Celeste 	Elizabeth Hanna (queen)Sarah Polley (young)	Marie Vincent 	Dominique Leduc
Isabelle 	Lisa Yamanaka 	Aurélia Bruno 	Aurélie Mayer
Flora 	Marsha Moreau 	Brigitte Lecordier 	Alice Raynard
Pom 	Bobby Becken 	Aurélia Bruno 	Loïc Fauchoux-Fanning
Alexander 	Amos Crawley 	Brigitte Lecordier 	Mikaël Fauchoux-Fanning
Pompadour 	Stephen Ouimette 	Bernard Alane 	Jacques Lavallée
Cornelius 	Chris Wiggins 	Jean-Pierre Darras 	Claude Préfontaine
The Old Lady 	Elizabeth Hanna 	Nelly Benedetti 	Monique Fournier
Zephir 	John Stocker 	Jacques Balutin 	Sébastien Dhavernas
Rataxes 	Charles Kerr 	Régis Ivanov 	Yves Corbeil
Guard Rhinos 	Charles Kerr 	Unknown 	Unknown
Arthur 	Stuart Stone 	Stanley Claisse 	Inti Chauveau
Old Tusk 	Carl Banas 	Henri Labussière 	Michel Max-Mailhot
Croc 	Ray Landry 	Christian Pelissier	Ronald France
Celeste's Mother	Angela Fusco 	Véronique Alycia 	Hélène Mondoux
Bird 	Barbara Mantini 	Unknown 	Unknown
Elephant 	Barbara Mantini 	Unknown 	Unknown
Monkey 	Barbara Mantini 	Unknown 	Unknown
===Additional Voices===
*Chris Andrande
*Chris Britton
*Scott Brunt
*Jason Burke
*Katie Coristine
*Frank Perry
*Chris Robson
*Norm Spencer
*Lea-Helen Weir
==Box Office==
In May 1989, the Toronto-based animation studio Nelvana announced that Babar: The Movie would debut in over 800 U.S. theatres by July 28 of that year. However, it opened at only 510 North American venues and grossed US$1,305,187.
The Chicago Tribune deemed Babar: The Movie a box-office flop, although it did regain its losses though the home video release.
==Critical Reception==
The film was given mixed reviews from critics.
Rita Kempley from The Washington Post said that it was "tired material, a toddlers' introduction to sexism and elitism."
Tracy Moore from Common Sense Media called it "an animated elephant adventure with some peril."
James Plath from Movie Metropolis said, "Babar: The Movie feels like a film in search of an audience."
==Trailer==
thumb|left|335 px
Category:Canadian films
Category:1989 films
Category:New Line Cinema animated films
Category:Canadian animated films
Category:Children's films
Category:French films
Category:French animated films
Category:Films based on children's books
Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
Category:Films set in a fictional African country
Category:Films with a one time distributor
Category:1980s films
Category:1989 animated films
Category:1980s children's animated films
Category:Nelvana Films