Writer/director Sylvain Chomet uses animation to tell the fanciful tale of Champion, a lonely little boy who is never happier than on a bicycle. His grandmother, Madame Souza, puts him through a rigorous training process and soon the boy enters the world-famous Tour de France. When two mysterious men kidnap Champion during the tour, Madame Souza and her dog Bruno set out to rescue him. Their long journey leads to the renowned "Triplets of Belleville," three eccentric female music-hall stars from the '30s who agree to help recover the boy.

"When I was a kid, I devoured magazines like Tintin and Pif Gadget.

I started drawing very early. My parents have told me that I asked for a pencil when I was two years old, to draw our TV set and the Juanita Banana figure (from the song by Henri Salvador) that sat on top of it. From then on, whenever I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, 'CARTOONIST.'

The Triplets of Belleville is based on mime and on the interplay between the characters. I'm more influenced by a realistic view than by animation. By Tati's films, of course, but also those of the masters of silent film: Chaplin, Keaton. That's why I really like Louis De Funès and all of the English comic school that you see in series like Absolutely Fabulous or Black Adder with Rowan Atkinson. I also like the animated work of Richard Williams and Tex Avery. In comic strips, Goossens is also a master of timing."

—By Sylvain Comet,
writer/director of The Triplets of Belleville