''The Triplets of Belleville'' () is a 2003 animated

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The film is Chomet's first feature film and was an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

among companies in France, Belgium, Canada and the United Kingdom. The film features the voices of Lina Boudreault, Mari-Lou Gauthier, Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, and Monica Viegas. There is little dialogue; much of the narrative is conveyed through song and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

. It tells the story of Madame Souza, an elderly woman who goes on a quest to rescue her grandson Champion, a

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

cyclist, who has been kidnapped by the French mafia for gambling purposes and taken to the city of Belleville (an amalgamation of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

). She is accompanied by Champion's loyal and obese hound, Bruno, and joined by the Triplets of Belleville,

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

singers from the 1930s, whom she meets in the city. The film was highly praised by audiences and critics for its unique style of animation and has since gained a cult following. The film was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

— Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for " Belleville Rendez-vous". It was also screened out of competition (''hors concours'') at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

In France, Madame Souza is raising her grandson Champion, a melancholy orphan. They watch an old variety show on television featuring a trio of singers, the Triplets of Belleville (Rose, Blanche, and Violette). When the program is interrupted, Souza asks Champion if the "film" is finished. The listless Champion does not reply and instead changes the channel to a piano concert. Souza, seeing Champion's interest in the music, pulls out an old piano and tries to amuse him, but Champion remains indifferent. She deduces that Champion is lonely and buys him a dog, Bruno. Neither Bruno nor an electric train set succeed in lifting Champion's spirits, and the dog has no interests apart from eating, sleeping, and barking at trains. While tidying Champion's room, Souza discovers a book filled with photos of cyclists. She buys Champion a

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...

, and he becomes an obsessive cyclist. Some years later he is competing in the

, when he is kidnapped by a pair of mobsters in a Citroën van. They take him and two other contestants across the Atlantic, Souza pursuing them on a pedalo. Arriving in the United States penniless and hungry, Souza and the obese Bruno are adopted by the Triplets of Belleville, now elderly, and taken to their seedy apartment. When dinner is finally served, it consists of frog soup and frog stew, with tadpoles for dessert, collected by Violette using " expanding bait". Souza joins their band, playing bicycle spokes like a dulcimer, to their refrigerator-shelf harp, newspaper percussion and vacuum-cleaner bagpipe. During the show, Souza spots the kidnappers. With the help of the Triplets, Souza rescues the cyclists, who had been forced to pedal-power a gambling machine, and escape on the pedaling frame, pursued by the mobsters in Citroën sedans. In a

flashforward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

, an older Champion watches the TV again showing their adventure when they are leaving the city and remembers Souza asking once more if the film is finished. Champion turns to the empty bench next to him and says "It's over, Grandma". In a humorous post-credits scene, the boatman who rented Souza the pedalo is seen patiently waiting for his vessel to return.

Cast

* Lina Boudreau as Rose Triplette (voice) * Mari-Lou Gauthier as Violette Triplette (voice) * Michèle Caucheteux as Blanche Triplette (voice) * Béatrice Bonifassi as the Triplets (singing voice) * Jean-Claude Donda as Le Géneral de Gaulle / Les commentateurs Sportifs / Le clochard / les Réclames (voice) * Monica Viegas as Madame Souza (voice) * Graziellia de Villa as Madame Souza (English version) (voice) * Michel Robin as 'Champion' adulte (voice) * Noël Baye as 'Champion' adulte (English version) (voice) * Dirk Denoyelle as Les commentateurs Sportifs / Le clochard (Dutch version) (voice)

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

, reports that of surveyed critics gave it a positive review, and the average rating was ; the consensus reads: "Richly detailed and loaded with surreal touches, ''The Triplets of Belleville'' is an odd, delightful charmer."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized score, rated it 91/100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for two

: for Best Animated Feature, making it the first PG-13 animated film to be nominated in that category; and for Best Original Song (

Benoît Charest Benoît Charest (; born in 1964) is a Canadian guitarist and film score composer from Quebec. He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film '' The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville)'' (2003), for which he won a Cés ...

and Sylvain Chomet for the song " Belleville Rendez-vous", sung by Matthieu Chedid in the original version). The film lost the Best Animated Feature award to ''

Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Lee Unkrich, and produced by Graham Walters, from ...

'' and the Best Original Song to '' Into the West'' from '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. It also won the César for Best Film Music, and as a co-production with Canada it won the

Genie Award for Best Motion Picture The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publis ...

and the BBC Four World Cinema Award in 2004.

References

External links