Ernest & Celestine is beyond charming. I, as an adult, have persuaded many of my friends to watch this film & they fell in love with it as well. Ernest's unlikely friendship with Celestine is endearing & lovely. Both characters are well rounded & pure in the best way. The animation & music are honestly my favorite parts. They come together so beautifully & make the heart happy. It feels like a story that came to life on the pages & I couldn't enjoy it more.

Ernest & Celestine is one of the cutest animated films I've ever seen. Considering that this was based off a series of children books, it doesn't even need to try to be cute; it's adorable to the core. The simplistic story of an orphaned mouse named Celestine who ends up befriending the down on his luck bear Ernest is odd at first, but there's so much genuine warmth in Celestine that it becomes charming and even emotional as the film progresses. Not to mention, they're both relatable in how much they love art, and even if they committed some crimes by accident, they just want to be with each other and display happiness and warmth through art and poetry. Yeah a bear and a mouse living together sounds odd, but if you think about it, it's not so different than an African-American and a Caucasian marrying each other, or gay marriage, or two people of a different religion being friends. It doesn't matter what they look like, what matters is that they're kind souls who just want to make what they love together. Along with gorgeous albeit simple animation, splendid voice acting, and a sweet melodious music score, Ernest & Celestine is an absolutely adorable and sweet film that children should definitely watch to not only get a touch to such charming characters, but to be reminded that it's ok to befriend someone who may seem different as long as they're passionate and well rounded albeit imperfect individuals. You'll have plenty of stories to tell, not unlike Ernest & Celestine.

There's near-universal acclaim for this movie among critics and viewers, so mine is definitely a minority opinion. While I enjoyed the movie, the story just didn't make much sense to me or seem at all consistent. The various actions of the characters, their situation in life didn't make much sense to me. The dual tracks of the above/below ground worlds of bear/mouse society were odd.But what bothered me most about the film, especially as a film for children, was the relationship between the two main characters. It went beyond that of what we traditionally think of as close friends, who, while greatly enjoying each other's company, still want to be part of society and be with others. The relationship between Ernest & Celestine is much more that of lovers, happy if the entire world goes to hell so long as they can be together. Celestine is a "her" at one point of the film; whether Ernestine's gender is ever revealed I don't know. But the relationship seems to be that of of a big, strong, dumb male and a petite, weak, smart female...of different species.Probably 98% of readers will respond "it's just a fairy tale," "you're reading too much into it," "yours is a narrow, conservative view of love" etc. But for me, the movie sends a confusing message to children of friendship versus love, especially given the different species of the characters.

It's interesting how studios and creative people would assume they know what people want. Disney knows that people want to see fairy tale stories and grand animation making the way for memorable characters and catchy songs. Warner Brothers knows that people want to see really fast animation alongside some good visual gags as perpetrated by unique charters with a lot of heart. Most other studios seem to copy either formula in their own projects. It's not too bad of an idea as long they can make their movies just as original and unique (projects like Despicable Me or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs).But I'm surprised with how these two formulas are the only ones that studios want to take a chance on. I've already talked about how I miss traditional hand drawn animation in movies today. You could say that children don't watch those kinds of movies anymore. But I ask of you "Why are classics like Snow White, The Looney Toons and Popeye still being watched by modern kids?". It's because they too has great legacies of good characters and memorable situations. There is always room for other options in animation that want something different. That would be one of this years Oscar nominated movies, Ernest and Celestine.In a lot of ways, this is nothing like modern Disney, Pixar, or the other big names. This tells a simpler story about friendship; a bear and a mouse. So in a world where mice live underground while bears walk and talk, living how we would, both sides agree that each species is evil and shouldn't we interacted with. At an orphanage, a young mouse Celestine is more curious about why the mice and rats are afraid of bears. She has a job of collecting bear teeth so that mice dentists can file them down for their fellow rodents to wear.She gets stuck in a garbage can where she is discovered by a starving musician bear, Ernest (played by Forest Whitaker). His first instinct is to eat Celestine, but she quickly scolds him for wanting to do so, confusing him. They make a deal to help each other, but the plan goes amiss and the two hide from the law in Ernest's home in the woods. Most of time is shown them interacting with each other and their skills; Celestine with her obsession with nature and art and Ernest and his spark for music and clowning.As I've said, this is a different offering from most of the other animated movies out. Ernest and Celestine is a much quieter movie about friendship. Though there's the principle tone about prejudice, the situation is simple at best. There's no villain or threatening force looking to destroy them. It's just this bear and mouse interacting and becoming friends. And you know what? That's all you really need with this kind of story. This is a very sweet and likable story that benefits from some really nice animation and two leads that both kids and adults would really like.Celestine may just be a young girl whose no higher then a few inches, but she still manages to be very spunky without being too annoying. It's her curiosity that rubs onto me that makes me want to learn about this world more. Ernest is a grouchy loner, but has plenty of heart that allows himself to absorb a lot of new ideas from this little mouse. The movie looks like one large watercolor painting, really letting the art taking control of the design and story. It looks beautiful. It feels more like something I would get from Winnie the Pooh; is simple but it works really well.I'll give this ten watercolor kits out of ten. Ernest and Celestine isn't exactly the most original story around, but it wins my heart with a very unique look and a gentle tone that anyone can enjoy. It's good old fashioned story telling at it's best. This is an absolute must with families.