René Laloux
An Alien in Animation
Three films over twenty years were enough to establish René Laloux as a key figure of the animation world. Who was he, and why is his work considered visionary ?
In 1973, Fantastic Planet broke all the aesthetic and thematic codes of animation by creating something radically different from the dominant orthodoxy of Disney productions. Based on original drawings by Roland Topor, the film surprised by winning the Special Jury Prize at the 36th Cannes Film Festival and was successfully distributed around the world, instantly changing the visual identity of 70s animation and creating a new strand of popular culture.
This revolutionary sci-fi fable has had a wide- ranging influence, from Hayao Miyazaki’s early films, right through to Cameron’s Avatar, as well as other areas of global pop culture such as music and graphic design.
With Time Masters (1982, drawings by Moebius) and Light Years (1987, with Philippe Gaza) following Fantastic Planet, René Laloux created a triptych of cult sci-fi animation, yet his name remains unknown to many.
