Terra Willy: Planète inconnue [Astro Kid] (2019)

(Video on-Demand, May 2020) There’s a whole universe of animated movies for kids out there that never gets any serious attention. They’re clearly not in the same league as the flagship productions of Pixar, Laika or Illumination, but they’re often surprisingly entertaining along the way. Terra Willy: Planète inconnue is a French animated film that’s easily up to American B-movie standards. A joyful film about exploration on a strange new planet, it features a resourceful young boy fending off for himself while awaiting rescue, relying on a handy robot and the friends he makes along the way. Director Éric Tosti turns in a film with its own qualities—not quite as hyperactive as other big-budget productions, but with an enjoyable atmosphere and message. The creature design is cute (if plasticky), as is the design of the robot helper. The film works hard at presenting the situation from the kid’s point of view (eager to explore!) rather than what the absent parents must have been thinking, especially considering that it takes them a year before finding their son again. You can make a case that, through its worldbuilding and exploration, Terra Willy feels a lot like Avatar for kids, minus the whole adult themes and blue body sleeves. It’s all rather charming, but make no mistakes: this is definitely geared toward kids, and very specifically eight-year-old boys.