By – Gareth Jones

For fans of René Laloux, Moebius, French animation, science fiction

I still vividly remember seeing two films by René Laloux when I was young.  The first was the incomparable Fantastic Planet which came out in 1973, but which I saw on VHS at some point in the early 80s.  I was absolutely transfixed and still see it as one of the greatest animated films ever made.  The second was Gandahar, whaich was called Light Years when I saw it in theatres in 1987.  It was severely edited, butchered really, by Miramax for the release in the United States. However, what remained still remains a formative film for me and many artists.  One recent animated series on Max called Scavenger’s Reign is a direct descendant to these films and also Laloux’s third feature film Time Masters, which was released in 1982.  I had never seen it and was elated to see that it was just given a recent restoration and a theatrical release, and hopefully a physical home release soon.

In each of his feature films, Laloux works with an artist that creates the design.  For Fantastic Planet that was the magnificent Roland Topor (who interestingly enough also played the role of Renfield in Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht), but here he works with an equally famous and influential artist, Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius.  His distinctive style has been a part of the science fiction world both on the page and on screen for generations.  His design here is playful and bizarre, the perfect collaborator for Laloux.  Time Masters is loosely based on the 1958 novel The Orphan of Perdide by Stefan Wul, the nome de plume of Pierre Pairault, who also wrote the novel that Fantastic Planet is adapted from.

Like his other films, the plot of Time Masters can get a bit convoluted.  Here, it tells the story of a young boy, Piel, who with his father crash lands on a planet inhabited by dangerous giant wasps that eat human brains.  Piel’s father is able to send a distress signal to his friend Jaffar, who is transporting two fugitive royals, Prince Matton and Princess Belle after they have stolen the treasure of their planet.  Jaffar decides to try and save Piel, but first he must pick up his friend Sibad from another planet to assist with the navigation to the planet that Piel is trapped on.  Along the way, various unusual creatures are seen and become important parts of the story.  All that being said, you do not watch a Laloux film for the plot, you watch it for the incredibly inventive animation and visual style.

One of the strongest examples of this unique style is seen with the design of the race of creatures they encounter on the planet Gamma 10, giant faceless angelic beings.  As is often the case with Laloux, the most beautiful creatures are often the most dangerous. There are also these two little creatures called Yula and Jad that are able to read the minds of other beings, but are also used often for comedic relief.  They are cute and cuddly, almost a Waldorf and Stadler like approach with their side commentary.

My biggest complaint with any Laloux film is that I always want more.  Time Masters is only 79 minutes and leaves the audience with many questions.  It is sad that this artist was only able to make three feature films in his lifetime, but we should be grateful that all three are now available to see.  The Criterion Collection did a majestic release of Fantastic Planet a few years ago, and I have my fingers crossed that they will do releases of Laloux’s other two films.