This is a great fairy tale animation, both for kids and for "older kids"; it's among the best animations I've seen in the last decade. (I'm surprised it's not better known in the U.S., and suspect the issue is incomplete understanding of the language options, leading to the mis-conclusion that subtitles are necessary. -see below-) It's rather like another episode of "1001 Arabian Nights". Like any fairy tale, it plays fast and loose with time (16th century or 20th?) and place (Arabia or Persia?). There is no gore, very little blood, no glorification of violence, no double entendre talk (well one raised eyebrow once) ...and no "good guys" or animals die. Although it started out a bit slow and simple, I was soon pulled in so thoroughly I couldn't even contemplate pausing the DVD while I went to the bathroom.The animation backgrounds appear to be typical 2D paintings, sometimes with multiple layers. Two things about the backgrounds stand out: First, they are highly detailed and variegated. And second, they use a lot of different strong colors at every opportunity - stained glass windows, meadow flowers, a spice market, dyed yarn, architectural tiles, geometric building decorations, etc. The magical figures appear to be 3D models, but so outrageously patterned and colored they're a feast for the eyes. The human figures also appear to be 3D models, but very simple ones, and in most cases projected as just simple flat areas of solid colors. Clothing mostly doesn't "drape", although flags, pennants, and sashes wave here and there.A couple effects are used especially well. One is the movement of point source lights. Walls and rooms subtly change color from one end to the other. Direct sunlight in the observatory is blinding. Fireflies light a scene. Darkened rooms gradually turn into brilliantly light ones as individual lights come on. And djinns cause showers of sparks. The other is swirling particles. Dust comes together into imagined figures (rather like seeing figures in the clouds). Fog envelops figures so thoroughly they disappear. A crystal prison shatters and the shards form an arch before disappearing.In summary, the animation doesn't attempt to do 3D model animation better than Pixar, instead going off in a completely different direction. Rather than being clever and realistic, the animation flaunts its gorgeousness and the focus is on the story line. The figures are adequate to convey the story, but without any attempt to be marvels in their own right. Another difference from typical Pixar wannabes is there are no pop culture or current events references here; rather than presenting jokes every few tens of seconds, this animation relies simply on impeccable pacing of the story itself.The "moral" of understanding diverse cultures and its benefits is hammered home again and again. Even the end credits call attention to the diverse cultures the animators came from.A perfectly serviceable English audio track exists; it was on the DVD I got from Netflix in late 2011. Younger viewers and others not comfortable with subtitles may find this the best way to make this animation accessible. The mismatch between mouth movements and the English audio is not distracting. This simpler view is complete and enjoyable; there's no need to understand any more.But if you want to look a little deeper, it quickly becomes apparent that characters often switch between speaking French and speaking Arabic, sometimes even to different individuals in the same scene. Some of the jokes only halfway make sense if you're not aware of the language switches. And in a couple places the language switches are even relevant to the story line itself. Unless you know either French or Arabic, or have very quick ears, you may not be able to pick out all the language switches. The best way to understand them (for me at least) was to select "French" as the spoken language track and "English for the hearing impaired" (_not_ the regular "English") as the subtitle track. The "English for the hearing impaired" subtitles not only provide the dialog itself, but also indicate what language is being spoken. In fact, these subtitles are some of the best I've ever seen at conveying multi-lingual content.

The story and setting for this French animated film, in which two childhood friends travel through a semi-mythical land on a quest to find the Djinn fairy, reminded me strongly of The Alchemist, a story written by Paolo Coelho. The tale is not quite as timeless as Coelho's novel but the film conjures a similar magic. This is in large part due to the jaw-dropping visual style, which is quite unlike anything else I have seen.The characters look superb, with luscious colours applied uniformly across clothing and intricate jewellery glinting marvellously. The range of settings is more dazzling still, ranging from green fields jam-packed with flowers and seedpods to bustling market towns to breathtakingly ornate palaces. There are innumerable wondrous images to recount and many clever visual touches such as the exaggerated proportions bestowed upon wildlife, including an enormous horse and a tiny cat.Unfortunately, I think that the translation of the film for English audiences has diluted some of the original message. This is most notable in the character of Crapoux, whose snobbery is used partly to propagate the film's message of cultural understanding. The scene where Crapoux derides foreign cookery next to that of his native country might be plausible when he is speaking in French. However, an English-speaking character deriding foreign foods against traditional English fare such as apple sauce seems rather surreal and amusing in way that the writers surely did not intend. (This is not to say that the English are strangers to cultural snobbery.) A further problem I had with the film was the ending, which was fairly predictable and therefore suffered from being so drawn-out. Nevertheless, I was greatly relieved to be spared the song-and-dance ending that typifies so many modern animations. The absence of any pop culture references was also refreshing (Pixar take note).

I saw the movie in Multivision channel three times. I could not understand that if the movie was about a Persian culture or Arabian, because they were speaking French/Arabic but they were using Persian symbols, colors, signs and so on. If the movie was the history of a Persian king, why they were speaking Arabic and if the movie was the history of an Arabian culture why they used the Persian symbols, colors and signs. I think the producer and writer were not familiar with Persian culture and this is really a weak point for the movie. I suggest them to read and see more about the middle east and specially Persian Gulf culture to prevent such a mistakes.

Maybe I've been lately overwhelmed by the Miyazaki's and Oshii's works. To not to mention a couple of other good-to-great names, for a 3 year period approximately. but it seems to me that there was already set some good rank for animation and background quality as in 2d and in 3D. So, the animation of a few main characters is awful. Jerky and Frankenstein-like stomping-the-ground movements are everywhere. mimics is lazy and not too complicated in terms of broad range of emotional expressions and variativity between some of the characters. The lone good one was a princess. It is live and energetic, leaving the very warm feeling and smiles on audience faces.Strange enough to see a mixture of well detailed faces with single color shaded clothes. As it seems to me it is more to make it simple to produce than some kind of artistical expression. That's because 3D models were overlaid on 2D backgrounds that was far too simple. Not much details, nearly no depth and interesting lighting which is always been the salt of moving pictures. not much movement on the background. That lack of the attention spots at deep layers produces somewhat dull picture that sure attracts the eye to the only moving and not so flat figures.The script can be characterized as full of mumbling and sticky places. Fairly standard princess and knight story. Remember the core of the "shrek" plot? I understand that is a tale of being a Human and a friend, to be simple. Although the beginning of the movie is filled with strong tension. The visions of heroic deeds that should be accomplished. But at the some key moments it makes a glimpse of treat and a second later it is gone far beyond. For me it's a bit frustrating to see the long and long chewed horrors to disappear magically and quickly. Before and then comes a few long scenes that picture a cornerstone events with far too simple words and explanations.I think now, that movie can entertain and be a good lesson of friendship to a little child, but not enough for a mature human being ;)