History WesternAnimation / TheTripletsOfBelleville

* HandicappedBadass: The guitar player in the intro number is missing three of his left hand's fingers; this does not hinder him from playing harmoniously. When you think that it doesn't get better, he starts playing a solo with his left foot's toes replacing his hand, which is free now to remove the cigarette from his mouth. [note]The guitar player is a direct caricature of the great French guitarist Django Reinhardt, who really did have two fingers burnt to uselessness when he was caught in a house fire. Didn't impair his brilliant performance a bit.[/note]

* TheAllegedCar: The French version: the mobsters drive stretch versions of Citroën 2CVs, which are ridiculously underpowered cars to which a WV Beetle compares favourably. Fittingly enough, they're shown to be as underpowered and easily disabled as a stretch version of an actual 2CV would be, although they probably wouldn't be destroyed by a collision into a baby carriage or be able to be flipped over by a MiniatureSeniorCitizen with a club foot.

* BlackComedy: The film thrives on [[SurrealHorror sur]][[SurrealHumor real]] images and scenes that gleefully tap-dance across the [[SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror lines separating humor and horror]]. Exhibit A: The entirety of the 1930s-style TV broadcast opening.[[note]] It involves, among other things, a man being eaten alive by his own shoes, the male audience members turning into monkeys to eat a dancer's banana dress, and a three story dancing baby. The rest of the film is more subdued, but not by ''that'' much.[[/note]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: Madame Souza just happens to run into the Triplets, who just happen to work in the club where Champion is held hostage.

* HandicappedBadass: The guitar player on the intro scat number is missing three of his left hand's fingers; this does not hinder him from playing harmoniously. When you think that it doesn't get better, he starts playing a solo with his left foot's toes replacing his hand, which is free now to remove the cigarette from his mouth. (NOTE: The guitar player is a direct caricature of the great French guitarist Django Reinhardt, who really did have two fingers burnt to uselessness when he was caught in a house fire. Didn't impair his brilliant performance a bit.)

* {{Leitmotif}}: The Bach song played on television that inspires Madame Souza to cheer up a despondent Champion by teaching him to play the piano accompanies his misfortune again when the French Mafia starts kidnapping cyclists, and later, Madame Souza switches from playing Belleville Rendez-vous for the Triplets to the same song, likely implying that she explains her situation and troubles to them offscreen. A jazzy rendition of the same piece can be heard in the background at the French restaurant where the Triplets perform.

** The film pokes fun at various aspects of the French, such as frog eating (the Triplets dine on tadpole-seasoned frogs), their obsession with the Tour de France (or the Circuit de France as it's called in-world) and the French's infamous poor-quality [[TheAllegedCar cars]]. Wine is also very prominent with all French characters.

* TheOnlyOne: Souza (and Bruno) set off to save Champion herself. No mention is made if PoliceAreUseless - they aren't even brought up.

* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The Triplets are not the main protagonists of the film - they eventually feature largely, but Souza and Bruno are the main characters the story follows. The Triplets appear during the opening musical number, but don't show up again until the second half of the movie.

** The guitar player in the opening number is clearly Creator/DjangoReinhardt, the tap dancer Creator/FredAstaire, the woman in the banana skirt [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker Josephine Baker]], and the conductor looks like [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Harpo Marx]]

* {{White Dwarf Starlet}}s: The Triplets, but in a subversion, they don't care - in fact, they're just as happy as when they were rich and famous.

* ButtSticker:
** Two of the women in the opening scene each has her husband stuck on her butt and he is revealed to be flattened and the other one has her husband stuck between her butt cheeks, the latter of which may be ''dead'' from asphyxiation.

* ButtSticker:
** Two of the women in the opening scene each has her husband stuck on her butt and he is revealed to be flattened and the other one has her husband stuck between her butt cheeks, the latter of which may be ''dead'' from asphyxiation.

* ButtSticker:
** Two of the women in the opening scene each has her husband stuck on her butt and he is revealed to be flattened and the other one has her husband stuck between her butt cheeks, the latter of which may be ''dead'' from asphyxiation.

* ButtSticker:
** Two of the women in the opening scene each has her husband stuck on her butt and he is revealed to be flattened and the other one has her husband stuck between her butt cheeks, the latter of which may be ''dead'' from asphyxiation.

* ButtSticker:
** Two of the women in the opening scene each has her husband stuck on her butt and he is revealed to be flattened and the other one has her husband stuck between her butt cheeks, the latter of which may be ''dead'' from asphyxiation.

* ButtSticker: Two of the women in the opening scene each has her husband stuck on her butt and he is revealed to be flattened and the other one has her husband stuck between her butt cheeks, the latter of which may be ''dead'' from asphyxiation.

* TinyGuyHugeGirl: In the opening sequence, the audience consists ''entirely'' of tiny men and their enormous wives.

* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The Triplets are not the main protagonists of the film - they eventually feature largely, but Souza and Bruno are the main characters the story follows.

** That said, [[WorldHalfFull Belleville isn't all bad]]. Despite the opulence of their lifestyle, its citizens are shown to be polite and sympathetic to others.

** That said, [[WorldHalfFull Belleville isn't all bad]]. Despite the opulence of their lifestyle, they are shown to be polite and sympathetic to others.

* BlackComedy: The film thrives on [[SurrealHorror sur]][[SurrealHumor real]] images and scenes that gleefully tap-dance across the [[SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror lines separating humor and horror]]. Exhibit A: The entirety of the 1930s-style TV broadcast opening.

* DreamSequence: From a dog, no less.

* EyesAlwaysShut: The mafia Dons and the triplets.

* The guitar player in the opening number is clearly Creator/DjangoReinhardt, the tap dancer Creator/FredAstaire, the woman in the banana skirt [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker Josephine Baker]], and the conductor looks like [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Harpo Marx]]

* The guitar player in the opening number is clearly Creator/DjangoReinhardt, the tap dancer Creator/FredAstaire, and the conductor looks like Creator/HarpoMarx

* TheAllegedCar: The French version: the mobsters drive stretch versions of Citroën 2CVs, which are ridiculously underpowered cars to which a WV Beetle compares favourably. Fittingly enough, they're shown to be as underpowered and easily disabled as a stretch version of an actual 2CV would be, although they probably wouldn't be destroyed by a collision into a baby carriage or be able to be flipped over by a MiniatureSeniorCitizen with a club foot.
* TheOnlyOne: Souza (and Bruno) set off to save Champion herself. No mention is made if PoliceAreUseless - they aren't even brought up.
* TheStinger: That guy that rents paddleboats.

* NonhumansLackAttributes: Averted, Bruno has very visible testicles.