Mune: Guardian of the Moon

Mune: Guardian of the Moon (French: Mune, le gardien de la lune) is a 2014 French animated

On a small planet whose inhabitants are made of natural materials, the first Guardians brought a small Sun and Moon to bring light to their world. For generations, the Guardians of the Sun and Moon used them to preserve the harmony of the world, with colossal animal-like temples being used to carry them in a timely fashion around the planet. Although they are very different from each other, the people of the day and night live in relative harmony with each other. However, in the Underworld deep within the planet, Necross, a failed and corrupted Guardian of the Sun who once tried to steal the Sun for himself out of envy until a mighty warrior called Xolal vanquished him and send him straight into the Underworld, awaits the opportunity to plunge the world into darkness.

In the present day, the day is approaching when the Sun's Apprentice Guardian, Sohone, and the Moon's Apprentice Guardian, Leeyoon, will take on the roles of Guardians of the Sun and Moon from an elderly Xolal and Yule, respectively. On the day of their induction, the light of the Sun accepts Sohone as planned, but the lunar Ewe chooses Mune, a young, inexperienced Faun boy, over Leeyoon.

When Mox, an impulsive Imp and a servant of Necross, informs him about Xolal's retirement, Necross sees this as an opportunity to steal the Sun again. After the ceremony, Xolal and Yule show their respective successors how to operate their Temples before passing, with Xolal turning into a stone statue and Yule turning into a tall glowing treelike plant. The following night, Necross sends Pale Snakes to visit an upset Leeyoon to stir up his jealousy and advise him to pit Sohone against Mune. Meanwhile, Mune struggles to maneuver the Temple of the Moon as it leaves its path and interferes with Sohone. While Sohone leaves his Temple after Leeyoon convinces him to scold Mune, Necross sends Mox and his shy, nature-loving Imp partner Spleen to steal the Sun and bring it to him in the Underworld. Necross causes the Sun to die off gradually to ensure that no one will take it from him. As a result, night falls across the land and a distressed Mune is banished from his people.

Mune and Sohone set out on a quest to find the vanished Sun, with the young wax girl Glim accompanying them. Thanks to her knowledge of astronomy and the ancient stories of how the world came together, the group passes across the Great Blue Hole, a lake under which the great abyss that leads to the depths of the world opens. While underwater, the group meets Phospho, a failed previous Guardian of the Moon from the same generation as Necross, who, due to his cowardice, gave up his position after failing to stop Necross instead of Xolal. He awakens Glim using his power and leads them to the entrance of the Underworld before leaving.

Meanwhile, Leeyoon takes Mune's place in the Temple of the Moon, but is unable to control it. The Moon wanes and crumbles into dust, causing the Temple to go out of control. It ends up in the Underworld, where Mune, Sohone and Glim are. Mune and Glim take care of the Moon while Sohone dives into the Underworld to recover the Sun. Mune figures out that he can calm the Temple of the Moon by using his powers, inspiring Phospho, who had watched from afar. Leeyoon admits to him that the Moon is lost, but Mune and Glim go into the Moon Quarry of the World of Dreams, which Yule had informed Mune of before passing away, to carve a new crescent like the first Guardian of the Moon had done before. However, despite the new Moon being ready, it could not shine without the Sun. Mune, who had tested his powers against Nightmares, and Glim develop feelings for each other as a guilt-ridden Leeyoon apologizes to Mune for his actions, recognizing him as the true Guardian of the Moon.

With the task done, Mune and Glim rejoin Sohone in the World of Darkness only to find him surrounded by a mass of Pale Snakes, who attempt to make him go mad with hatred like with Necross. Sohone is saved after Phospho intervenes and sacrifices himself to calm and free Sohone, destroying the Snakes in the process. Sohone, Mune and Glim confront Necross and his Imps. Glim finds the Sun and blows on it to revive its fire, causing her to melt in the process. As she is melting, Glim encourages Mune, telling him he can defeat Necross as he mourns her sacrifice. As Necross is about to crush Mune and Sohone, the Sun and the Moon unite and empower them. Mune uses his Dream powers to defeat Necross by putting him to sleep. In the World of Dreams, Mune realizes that a Pale Snake was influencing Necross and destroys it. Necross regains the appearance he had before he was corrupted by envy as he turns into stone in the real world, resting in peace in harmony, while the Underworld changes into a paradise and Mox and Spleen are flowered.

Necross's decorruption brings back peace to the land, and the two Guardians are able to resume the normal trajectories of the Sun, the Moon, and their Temples. With some help from the Sun and Moon’s power, Mune re-sculpts Glim reviving her in such a way that keeps her from melting in the day and freezing in the night. Mune and Glim meet up and kiss before going around the world on the Temple of the Moon.

Cast

Production

The original idea of the film was born from a project from writer Benoît Philippon, who planned to start a short live action film in an atmosphere inspired by Terry Gilliam movies that would tell the story of a character who lives in a forest and wins the Moon after spearing it with a rope. The project soon proved to be unfeasible in a short format, and so Philippon began turning it into a feature film project. He developed and created an original universe with its cosmogony and inhabitants related to the Sun and the Moon.^[4] The universe further formed with the contributions of Nicolas Marlet, who designed the characters, and Aurelian Prédal, who was the film's artistic director. The human characters were designed as hybrids between human beings, animals. and various materials. Mune is a woodland creature with fur and is related to the night; his shy and taciturn nature is inspired by the main character of Edward Scissorhands. Sohone is linked to the Sun and his body is made from amber; his "big mouth" personality is inspired by characters like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Han Solo from Star Wars. Glim is made from wax, which makes her fragile and endangered when exposed to sunlight, but through this the film is able to show a character with a disability who succeeds through her courage. Necross and his two imps, Mox and Spleen, are volcanoes, giving the film's crew the opportunity to work with lava and soot textures.^[4] The script was co-written by Benoît Philippon and Jerome Fansten. The film underwent several rewrites, including changes that were made while writing the storyboard for its visual development, which saw the birth of new ideas, including the mobile temples. The stakes of the plot were defined early on, being the idea of characters searching for the Sun, which was like a Holy Grail. The challenge of the project was to develop a classic film that would be understandable by a wide audience, including younger people, without sacrificing originality and the poetry of the world.^[4] The film was directed mainly in CGI, except for scenes depicting the planet's past and those taking place in the world of dreams, which were done using 2D animation.

Music and soundtrack

The film’s original music was composed and orchestrated by Bruno Coulais, who was also the composer of Coraline and Song of the Sea. The soundtrack, which was released on October 16, 2015, contains “Happy” written and performed by C2C and Derek Martin.

Release

The film premiered in France at Forum des images on 6 December 2014 and in North America at the

The film was released in cinemas in France on 14 October 2015 by Paramount Pictures.

In France on the day of its release, Wednesday, October 14, 2015, Mune: Guardian of the Moon did relatively well in Paris, with a startup to 457 entries on 14 screens where it was being shown, ranking fifth among films released that day. In its first week, the film had 128, 279 entries. By the end of 2015, Mune: Guardian of the Moon had a combined total of 524,000 entries and was one of 100 French films that attracted the most viewers in 2015.

In the United States, GKIDS released the film to theaters for a one-day only event on August 12, 2017. In contrast to the original dub, their release redubbed some of the voices with Rob Lowe, Christian Slater, Patton Oswalt, Ed Helms and Jeff Dunham.^[5] It had a home video release on September 26, 2017 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.^[6]

Reception

During its release in France in October, 2015 Mune: Guardian of the Moon was well received by press critics. The main recognised qualities of the film are its aesthetics and its world, the latter considered poetic and original. In the French free daily 20 Minutes,^[7] Caroline Vié speaks of "extraordinary aesthetics" and she believes that the film "surprises people constantly with its inventiveness." In Première,^[8] Christopher Narbinne speaks about an "inventive artistic direction" and about "unique character designs". In L'Express,^[9] Eric Libiot maintains that the film is "splendid and moving" and shows that "French animation is in a really good shape" with an "ambitious" animation and a universe that "intermingles mythology, is universal and tries to remain open for all". In the women's magazine Elle,^[10] Helena Villovith judges that "the poetic quality of the characters, the richness of the setting and the mood of the dreamlike sequences do not have to pale before classics such as Toy Story or Princess Mononoke." Critics are divided on the quality of the scripts: generally welcomed, it leaves some critics less convinced. In L'Express, Eric Libiot judges it "beautiful and intelligent"; he describes the scenario as "romantic" and appreciates that it "escalates to a progressive film" and that "the pace of it takes its time voluntarily". In Le Dauphiné Libéré,^[11] Jean Serroy believes that it is all "very inventive in terms of characters and adventures, perfect for a family viewing". In Le Journal du dimanche,^[11] Barbara Théate saw the film as a "story for toddlers, rich with wacky characters and fun twists". It is "an original work with sophistication" according to Philippe Lauguche from Quest France.^[11] The Télérama magazine considers it "magical and terrifically effective" under the pen of Guillemette Odicino, who recognises various influences: the faun Mune reminds him of the world of Luc Besson, Glim that of Tim Burton, while the marvelous creatures remind him of the films of Hayao Miyazaki and the paintings of Salvador Dalí.^[12] In the film magazine Première, Christophe Narbonne recognises a certain poetry to the film, but finds the scenario "very formal" and he thinks that it does not live up to its aesthetics.^[13] In her review for Elle, Helena Villovitch regrets that "the only girl's role is decorative, fluttering her eyelashes and admiring the prowess of males who get promoted to positions of responsibility. Still, she's the one we love the most!"^[14]

Awards

The film was submitted as one of the 27 animated feature films in consideration for the Best Animated Feature for the 89th Academy Awards.^[15]

Accolades

References