There’s been a fair bit of excitement surrounding the new animated adventure April and the Extraordinary World. It’s the tale of a young ten year old girl that gets separated from her scientist parents as they get close to unlocking the secret of everlasting life. Created by French Graphic Novelist Jacques Tardi, this trailer of the feature film lists great names such as JK Simmons, Susan Sarandon, Tony Hale and the legendary Paul Giamatti. However, a search on IMDb shows only French names suggesting there will be a redubbed version for English audiences.
Set in 1941, the film still shows strong steampunk aesthetics and this is because it’s not progressed from the 19th century. Napoleon V rules France which shows a radically skewed alternate reality. For 70 years the greatest minds in France have disappeared and mankind hasn’t progressed technologically. None of the great advances of the era happened such as radio, television, electricity or the internal combustion engine have happened leaving thee country in a Victorian era world dominated by coal and steam power.
We follow April, the main protagonist, 10 years after she mysteriously lost her scientist parents. Now a teenager, she finds comfort in the company of her talking cat Darwin, her grandfather Pops and Julius – a scoundrel. They all go off in search of April’s parents through a creative Paris boasting twin Eiffel Towers.