Babar: The Movie

Babar: The Movie is a 1989 Canadian-French traditional animated film made by Canada's Nelvana Limited and France's Ellipse Programme, and distributed by New Line Cinema. It is based on the characters of Jean de Brunhoff's eponymous children's books, and was a follow-up to the first season of the HBO TV series. This is one of New Line Cinema's only two animated feature films; the next being 1994's The Swan Princess.

Plot
On the night of Elephantland's Victory Parade, Babar tells to his four children the story of his first days as King of the Elephants.

His first order of business, he is told by his two counselors, is to choose a name for Elephantland's Annual Parade. Babar promptly selects one, but is informed by the bureaucratic-minded lords that the matter must be thoroughly examined by committee. Babar's cousin, Celeste, then interrupts to tell Babar that her home has been attacked by Rataxes, the rhinoceros lord, and his horde. The chancellors scoff and rubuff her, but Babar orders an elephant army to be called up immediately to defeat the rhinos, if partly because he wants to impress his cousin (and future wife.)

But, due to the heel-dragging of his ultra-conservative ministers, Babar learns that the muster will take at least three days. Not willing to wait any longer, Babar tells his cousin Arthur, Celeste's brother, to take care of his job as King while he ventures off on his own to help their mother, amid dangerous jungle. He finds Celeste's village aflame; the rhinos are taking the adult elephants as slaves so that they can work on building a rhino city. Babar tries to intervene, but is knocked senseless for his trouble.

When he comes to, Babar rescues Celeste out of the town well, and they set off to rescue the latter's mother, and the other pachyderms, from Rataxes' wrath. Along the way, they meet a monkey named Zephir, who gives them the location of the rhinos' base. The two come face to face with Rataxes himself, who plans to invade Babar's kingdom by twilight, and are put in jail, but they both escape along with Zephir, and race back to Elephantland to save it.

Heading into the rhinos' tents, they disguise themselves as one of the warriors, asking for "special detail" of their plans for attack, but to no avail. They get away from Rataxes quickly, launching from a catapult and landing in a fountain, much to the surprise of Babar's advisors.

The evil rhino proclaims Elephantland will be destroyed in an hour, absent unconditional surrender. To buy time, Babar orders the two ministers to distract Rataxes with their "committee" procedure. The elephant army takes some action into their hands, and a giant elephant float, built by Babar and company, scares off Rataxes' soldiers.

At sunrise, the young King's friends congratulate him on saving the day and his town, but are surprised to learn that their very first Victory Parade will be held during the afternoon. It has gone by that name ever since, the older Babar recalls, because the committee could not find any other name for it.

As Babar finishes his tale, he finds that his children have all gone to sleep. Right after he closes the door, they re-enact scenes from the story, until their father tells them to get back to bed.

Cast

 * Gordon Pinsent as King Babar
 * Elizabeth Hanna as Queen Celeste, The Old Lady
 * Lisa Yamanaka as Isabelle
 * Marsha Moreau as Flora
 * Bobby Becken as Pom
 * Amos Crawley as Alexander
 * Gavin Magrath as Young Babar
 * Sarah Polley as Young Celeste
 * Stephen Ouimette as Pompadour
 * Chris Wiggins as Cornelius
 * John Stocker as Zephir
 * Charles Kerr as Rataxes, Guard Rhinos
 * Stuart Stone as Arthur
 * Carl Banas as Old Tusk
 * Ray Landry as Croc
 * Angela Fusco as Celeste's Mother
 * Christopher Andrande as Additional Voices
 * Christopher Britton as Additional Voices
 * Scott Brunt as Additional Voices
 * Jason Burke as Additional Voices
 * Katie Coristine as Additional Voices
 * Barbara Mantini as Additional Voices
 * Frank Perry as Additional Voices
 * Chris Robson as Additional Voices
 * Norm Spencer as Additional Voices
 * Lea-Helen Weir as Additional Voices

Release
In May 1989, the Toronto-based animation studio Nelvana announced that Babar: The Movie would debut in over 800 U.S. theatres by 28 July of that year. The film, however, opened at only 510 North American venues and grossed US$1,305,187; the Chicago Tribune deemed it a box-office flop, although the film did regain its losses though the home video release. It was the last animated feature production by Nelvana until 1997's Pippi Longstocking, and another Babar movie in 1999, King of the Elephants (which is ironically a remake of the Babar TV series). The long version of the 1985 Nelvana logo at the end of the film is also restored on the DVD release. The film is also referred to in the Babar and the Adventures of Badou episode Heropotamus, with a past photo of Babar showing him in the same 'adventurer' outfit he wears in the majority of the movie.

A book adaptation of the movie, written by Cathy East Dubowski and illustrated by Renzo Barto, was published by Random House in November 1989.

Soundtrack
The film features 5 main songs, performed by the likes of Molly Johnson, Judy Tate, The Nylons and by cast members Stephen Ouimette, Chris Wiggins and John Stocker. Although there has never been an official soundtrack released, certain songs can be found online on youtube and other streaming websites.

The songs are (In order of appearance):

1- Elephantland March - Written by Maribeth Solomon; Performed by The Nylons, Judy Tate, Debbie Fleming (as Debbie Flemming), John Rutledge, & Neil Donell

2- The Committee Song - Written by Philip Balsam (creditied as Phil Balsam); Performed by Stephen Ouimette, Chris Wiggins, & The Nylons

3- The Best We Both Can Be - Written by Maribeth Solomon; Performed by Molly Johnson

4- Monkey Business - Written by Maribeth Solomon; Performed by John Stocker, Judy Tate, Debbie Fleming (as Debbie Flemming), John Rutledge, Neil Donell, & The Nylons

5- Rataxes - Song Written by Kevan Staples, Marvin Dolgay, & Carol Pope for Tambre Productions; Performed by Charles Kerr

Reception
The film was given mixed reviews from critics.