ADDITION: Accent - November 07': Although taken from the same source (same damage marks) - it appears as though the Accent (distributed by Facets Video) has had some boosting as colors are, perhaps falsely, enriched. Hence it also exhibits a tinge of edge-enhancement. Both are Region 0 in the NTSC format - and both are interlaced transfers. Plus both offer an English language version plus the original French edition with optional English subtitles. Other than that the subtitle font is different (see sample below) as well as the supplements.

Accent also offers the René Laloux's 10 minute short film; Les Escargots, but adds a 30 minute interview with the director (with optional English subtitles) - and that is a nice touch. The Accent includes a music video by Sean Lennon - Would I Be The One (supposedly inspired by Fantastic Planet), a trailer and a photo gallery. MoC differs in the addition of Comment Wang-Fo Fut Sauvé (15 minutes - Laloux considered it his best work!) and a 40-page liner notes booklet with some essays about Laloux, Roland Topor, and Alain Goraguer. Hmmm... I lean toward the Masters of Cinema which is currently slightly more expensive at the writing of this comparison. I suspect many will go for the one most accessible to them but the MoC, to my eyes, has the more accurate and preferable image.

On the Eureka MoC: The only master that Eureka Masters of Cinema were able to obtain was from an interlaced transfer. The good side to that is that it is not interlaced due to a weak DVD rendition. Hence, the 'combing' properties are virtually unnoticeable (even on most high end systems). I would say the print looks a shade dirty but I have no experience with this film which is animation from over 30 years ago (not comparable to today's standards). There appears to be no untoward damage and matches MoC's previous high quality with then anamorphic 1.66 original ratio. I suspect that the screen captures can tell you a better story of how this Fantastic Planet! DVD looks - it has good detail in warm pastel colors.

It should be noted that there are at least two other DVD representation of this film available - (US Anchor Bay - now OOP - and Australian Force Entertainment). Unlike this Masters of Cinema edition both used a non-anamorphic 1.66 image, with *ingrained subs*. The fact that this is 1.66:1 OAR anamorphic and has optional subs leans it to be the definitive digital version available.

Supplements include two René Laloux's animation short films; Les Escargots (10 minutes) and Comment Wang-Fo Fut Sauvé (15 minutes - Laloux considered it his best work!). There is also a 40-page liner notes booklet with some essays about Laloux, Roland Topor, and Alain Goraguer.

Post Disney's classic era there was quite a lot of cult animation features made in the late 60's 1970's including Yellow Submarine, Ralph Bakshi's work and others. In the vein of artistic expression Rene Laloux's masterpiece "Fantastic Planet" stands out for its strong message (the evils of propaganda). A highly important film that we recommend!

Gary W. Tooze