A Monster in Paris

• Main
• All Subpages
  • Awesome
  • Funny
  • Heartwarming
  • YMMV
• Create New

A Monster In Paris (Un Monstre à Paris) is a French animated film directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron, with music by Matthieu Chedid, aka -M-.

During the Great Flood of 1910, Emile, a shy movie projectionist, and Raoul, a colorful inventor, find themselves embarked on the hunt for a monster terrorizing the citizens of Paris. However, the monster takes refuge with a beautiful, kind-hearted singer named Lucille and is revealed to be actually quite harmless. Now all of them must continue to protect the monster, Francœur, from the chief of police who's out to kill him.

View the trailer (with subtitles) here.

Also the English version here.

---

This film contains examples of:

• Actor Allusion: Lucille has a slight gap in her front teeth, just like her voice actress. Coincidence?
  • In the picture shown in the Cute Monster entry, Francoeur wears a wig identical to Matthieu Chedid's famous haircut as "M".
• Adorkable: Francoeur, Emile, and Raoul.
• Alternate History: The real flood of 1910 didn't have to deal with a giant flea, and wasn't settled by giant sunflowers.
  • There's also the inauguration of Montmartre's funicular. In Real Life, it happened in 1900.
  • In the movie, Maynott intends to become mayor of Paris. In Real Life, that function didn't exist at the time (the equivalent was "Prefect of the Seine").
• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Charles, and Francoeur to a much greater extent.
• Angelic Beauty: While she's not a real angel, Lucille's stage costume was made with this in mind.
• Batman in My Basement
• Beast and Beauty: A platonic example.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Raoul towards Lucille. They're decribed as bickering non-stop since childhood. And even though they still do, it's obvious Raoul has a thing for her. It's revealed that Lucille feels the same at the end.
• Big Creepy Crawlies: Francoeur is a giant (albeit anthropomorphised) flea.
• Call Back: Emile using an umbrella as a weapon against Maynott is a callback to his daydream at the start of the film.
• Chekhov's Gun: The sunflower seed Raoul pockets during his first trip to the lab is used to save him and Lucille from falling to their death during the Eiffel Tower battle.
• Coat, Hat, Mask: Francoeur.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Maynott's final fate.
• Cool Mask: Again, Francoeur.
• Costume Porn: Francoeur and Lucille's stage outfits.
• Cute Monster: Francoeur is absolutely adorable.
• Deadpan Snarker: Raoul.
• Disney Acid Sequence: The "La Seine" sequence becomes this about halfway through.
• Downer Ending: Then subverted via The Reveal in the Happy Ending.
• The Dragon: Paté. Being clearly good, he's also a Token Good Teammate.
• The Edwardian Era
• Everything Is Better With Monkeys: Charles.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Raoul.
• Gay Paree
• Gentle Giant: Francoeur.
• Hartman Hips: Lucille. The lady who drops her necklace in the alley way has even more prominent curves.
• Hazel Eyes: Lucille appears to sport these.
• Heel Face Turn: Paté
• Heroes Want Redheads: Raoul has a big thing for Lucille, a stunning redhead.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: Raoul and Emile.
• He Who Fights Monsters: The chief of police is clearly shown as a selfish Jerkass, and finally loses his sanity.
• Hey It's That Voice:
  • In the English dub, Albert, or should we say, Odd?
  • Francoeur's English singing voice is Sean Ono Lennon.
  • And in French, he's voiced by M, i.e. Matthieu Chedid.
  • Vanessa Paradis plays Lucille in both English and French. You might know her best as Johnny Depp's wife.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Francoeur and Lucille.
• Hurricane of Puns: Raoul. In the English version one doubles as a Shout Out to Back to The Future.
• In a Single Bound: Francoeur. Justified, since he's a giant flea.
• Indy Ploy: Raoul's schtick during the climax.
• Insistent Terminology: Raoul's coat isn't made of straw!
• Instant Expert: Francoeur learns to sing, dance and play guitar damn fast.
  • Sing, dance and play guitar nothing, he's later seen writing a piano piece!!!
• Jerkass: Albert.
• Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Raoul.
• Like Brother and Sister: Lucille and Francoeur, according to Word of God.
• Love Triangle: At least, fans assumed this would be the case, partly thanks to some apparently unreliable English summaries.
• Male Gaze: The necklace scene in the alleyway with the Lady in Red. The camera notably lingers on her behind.
• Nice Hat: Francoeur.
• Red Headed Heroine: Lucille.
• Reed Richards Is Useless: Subverted in the first stinger.
• Scenery Porn
• Shout Out
• Shrinking Violet: Emile is a male example.

"The smaller you are, the less people look at you. At... At least that's been my experience."

• The Speechless: Francoeur, outside of the songs, is incapable of speaking and chirps (or sings basic sounds) instead, which makes him even cuter.
  • The set-up for A Monster in Paris (the song) implies he needs to hear music of any sort to be able to talk/sing.
• The Stinger: Two, one before and one after the credits.
• Talking Animal: Charles is an interesting variation. He can't talk, but circumvents this by writing on cards. And he must be writing really fast.
• Title Drop: In one of the songs sung by Francoeur.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Paté is confronted to this choice as he realizes that Maynott is a bastard and is completely losing his sanity. He chooses the second option.
• Took a Level In Badass: Emile, during the climax.
• Victorious Childhood Friend: Raoul.
• Villainous Breakdown: The more the climax progresses, the more it's obvious that Maynott is getting completely off his gourd.
• Woman in White: Lucille in her stage costume.
• White Gloves: Francoeur.
• Youthful Freckles: Lucille.