OUAN602 - Manchester Animation Festival: Phantom Boy

Phantom Boy was the first of two feature length animations I saw at Manchester Animation Festival. This animation far surpassed my expectations and I liked it very much. Prior to this I attended the sound design lecture based on the sound design of the film, and this got me excited to view the feature film on the big screen. The film was produced by French animation studio Folimage, and has a very specific style that somewhat reminded me of a 90's style of animation, but moved away from this retaining a distinct French animation style that reminded me also of 'The Illusionist' [L'illusionniste] another feature length French animation produced by Pathé and Django films.

The films narrative follows a young boy called Leo, who lives in New York City. After being hospitalised for an illness he uses his extraordinary power to leave his body and hover in the air in the form of a 'phantom', invisible and impalpable, while his physical body remains asleep. In this form, he can go anywhere and even through walls. During his stay in the hospital, a Policeman is also hospitalised, in the same hospital after breaking a leg. Once Leo discovers that the policeman is chasing a bandit who plans to let loose a computer virus onto the city to shut down the power grid, Leo and Alex join forces to try and save the city from this happening.

This for me felt like a classic crime, and although the film was French and set in New York city it was very well produced and everything from the look of the city to the sounds and the vibe you got from it feels like New York. In terms of the characters, despite being quite trope like in their delivery, it feels very intentional and works well to create comedic a comedic effect whilst also not detracting from all of the other aspects the film has to offer. Overall, Phantom Boy surpassed all of my expectations in terms of the way the film was created in a traditional way and every effort to create an authentic New York setting was a very immersive and enjoyable world to be placed into.