"And all the headlines read, for the whole world to see, a Monster in Paris."
A Monster in Paris (Un Monstre à Paris) is a French animated film directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron (best known for working on The Road to El Dorado and Shark Tale), with music by Matthieu Chedid, a.k.a. -M-, who's also Francœur's singing voice in French. Vanessa Paradis provided both the speaking and singing voices of Lucille for both the French and English dub.
During the Great Flood of 1910, Émile, a shy movie projectionist, and Raoul, a colorful inventor, find themselves embarked on the hunt for a monster terrorizing the citizens of Paris. However, the monster takes refuge with a beautiful, kind-hearted singer named Lucille and is revealed to actually be quite harmless. Now the three of them must continue to protect the monster, Francœur, from the chief of police who's out to kill him.
A Monster in Paris provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Francœur dons a wig identical to Matthieu Chedid's famous haircut as "M" for a few seconds.
- Alternate History:
- The real flood of 1910 didn't have to deal with a giant flea, and wasn't settled by giant sunflowers.
- There's also the inauguration of Montmartre's funicular. In Real Life, it happened in 1900.
- In the movie, Maynott intends to become mayor of Paris. In Real Life, that function didn't exist at the time (the equivalent was "Prefect of the Seine", and he was chosen directly by the government, not elected).
- Lucille and Francœur's very modern dancing in early 1900s Paris.
- Dating is a thing in the film. However, during that time period, courting was still in trend.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Charles, and to a much greater extent, Francœur. They are, respectively, a monkey and a flea, but seem to be about as smart as all the human characters.
- Angelic Beauty: While she's not a real angel, Lucille's stage costume was made with this in mind.
- Animated Musical: There are a number of songs throughout and - aside from "Love is in the Soul", which plays in the background after Francœur's supposed death - all of them are diegetic.
- Artistic License – Biology: Taken with Francœur on a few levels, who has a human-like face and looks a lot cuddlier than an actual giant flea would.
- Artistic License – Law: Maynott is defeated when he is apprehended by French police for Francœur's murder. This would not be a crime at all, unless Francœur was legally recognized as a (human) person. Granted, it could that he was really being charged with destroying the funicular and threatening to shoot Lucille, and the "murder of Francœur" charge was just one last dig at Maynott's douchiness.
- Asshole Victim: The story has two non-lethal variations.
- The pickpocket who tries to steal Émile's camera gets thoroughly (and unintentionally) beat up by Catherine as Raoul tinkers with her controls. Later he gets crushed by a sandbag, launched in the air by Catherine, beat up by an old woman, and is finally arrested.
- Albert is a vain, whiney, and spiteful jerk who tries to sell out Lucille, which makes him being sent to jail quite satisfying.
- Ax-Crazy: Maynott becomes this in the climax, even wielding an actual axe as he becomes increasingly unhinged.
- Bait-and-Switch: When the man who had a run-in with the monster reports it to the police, one of them seems to be taking a facial composite of the monster in question. But when the police officer taking the statement asks him to show it, it turns out his friend was actually drawing the man.
- Batman in My Basement: Lucille hides Francœur in her dressing room, and multiple gags revolve around her needing to hastily hide him when someone starts to come in.
- Beast and Beauty: A platonic example. [[Lucille and Francœur]] do not become romantically involved, but are good friends and amicable co-performers.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Raoul and Lucille's entire relationship is built on this. They're described as having been bickering non-stop since childhood. And even though they still fight all the time, it's obvious Raoul has a thing for her. It's revealed at the end of the movie that Lucille feels the same.
- Bespectacled Cutie: Maude is a short, cute woman with big glasses
- Beta Couple: Émile and Maude, who are actually set up before Raoul and Lucille but have a lot less plot emphasis.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Francœur is a giant (albeit anthropomorphic) flea.
- Call-Back: Émile using an umbrella as a weapon against Maynott is a callback to his daydream at the start of the film, as is his Pre Asskicking Oneliner to Maynott ("It's showtime!").
- Casting Gag: The joke of having a giant singing insect being voiced by the son of one of The Beatles in the English dub.
- Cat Scare: A small one in one of the scenes introducing Francœur; a husband and a wife are trying to retrieve the latter's pearls from her broken necklace when something small and quick skitters behind the woman and spooks her. It turns out to be an alley cat, but the cat hisses at something before running off, which is when the husband and wife see the monster.
- The Chanteuse: Lucille, a professional singer whose act is largely built on her (kid-friendly) seductiveness.
- Chekhov's Gag:
- Raoul's straw coat, which he insists multiple times is not made of straw, is used to shake off the police cars chasing him in the film's climax, attracting a hungry horse that ends up blocking the fleet's path.
- Raoul later uses the flap on Catherine that he demonstrated at the beginning of the film (to less-than-stellar results) to sail to the Eiffel Tower when Maynott drops them into the flooded Seine.
- Chekhov's Gun: The sunflower seed Raoul pockets during his first trip to the lab is used to save him and Lucille from falling to their death during the Eiffel Tower battle.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Raoul and Lucille have been friends since childhood, and eventually they end up together.
- Coat, Hat, Mask: Francœur manages to get by with this outfit for much of the movie, albeit by fitting two arms in each sleeve.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Maynott's final fate, being locked up with a really bad singer.
- Companion Cube: Catherine to Raoul; she's a van, but one he loves dearly.
- Cool Mask: Again, Francœur, who wears a very The Phantom of the Opera-esque mask.
- Costume Porn: Francœur's Phantom of the Opera-like white suit and mask, and Lucille's deliberately angel-like dress, are both adorned with plenty of accessories that fall into this territory.
- Creative Closing Credits: Made up of the film's own
Concept Art and Storyboards. - Cute Monster: Despite being an anthropomorphic flea, Francœur
◊ is absolutely adorable. - Cute Mute: Francœur can only "speak" in chirps and bleeps. It appears that the only way he can "speak" actual words is when he sings them.
- Dance Party Ending: The final scene features multiple members of the main cast dancing during one of Lucille's shows.
- Deadpan Snarker: Raoul has a quip for every occasion, to the point that him not making a quip highlights just how serious the moment is. Lucille also has her moments, usually while snarking with Raoul with Raoul.
- Decoy Protagonist: Subverted; the focus on Raoul and Émile quickly switches to Lucille and Francœur, but about halfway through the movie the focus is on all four characters.
- Disney Acid Sequence: The "La Seine" sequence becomes this about halfway through, with Lucille and Francœur dancing on the rooftops of Paris and on the Eiffel Tower, though we can assume this is not meant to be literally happening within the story.
- Disney Death: Francœur. Everyone assumes he's dead, but in actuality he simply shrank back down to normal size again.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: After Albert tips off Maynott that Francœur is at the Rare Bird, the Commissioner storms there and is rather caustic and physically aggressive with Lucille. The way he acts, his mannerism is less like a hunter searching for his quarry and more like a jealous boyfriend trying to find his girlfriend's lover.
- Easily Forgiven: Played with. Lucille made it perfectly clear that if he ever entered her dressing room, Maynott would be crossing a line she would never forgive him for. That doesn't stop him from doing so. Afterwards, when it seems she's not hiding the monster, Lucille invokes this trope to give an apologetic Maynott the illusion that he's still in her good favor.
- The Edwardian Era: The film is set in 1910.
- Establishing Character Moment: In their first scene alone, Maynott and Pâté's conversation best displays their personalities for the audience. Maynott is rather flippant about the flooding of the Seine, and is rather interested in 'diverting' the populace's attention from the problem. Pâté on the other hand is more focused on the issue at hand and thinks up to either help the people or to solve the problem in general.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Played straight... but also subtly subverted. The movie is in fact about a monster in Paris, but it can be argued that the real monster is Maynott, not Francœur.
- The Faceless: Raoul's professor friend is absent for most of the story, and he's facing away from the camera when he finally appears at the end of the film.
- Faint in Shock: Lucille faints when she first sees Francœur.
- Fiery Redhead: Lucille is a temperamental and opinionated redheaded woman.
- Foreshadowing:
- At the beginning of the movie, the newspaper seller is shouting a headline about how the "Commissioner's popularity at an all-time low". How does Maynott get his public approval rating back? By publicly hunting down an enlarged flea who would never hurt anyone because it will make him look heroic to save Paris from the alleged monster.
- Francœur witnessing his arm hairs shrink tells the audience that the Super Fertilizer's effects are starting to gradually wear off.
- During Lucille's and Francœur's fantasy dance sequence, at one point he is peeking over the edge of the lighthouse cap. This is his exact location Maynott attempts to kill him at the end of the movie. Doubles as a Dark Reprise.
- Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better: Francœur is bipedal despite the fact that fleas naturally walk on six legs. He does have six limbs, but only two of them are used as legs.
- Funny Background Event: During the scene where Victor Maynott and Inspector Pâté are talking with each other about the current flood and how to take care of it, you can see Albert fruitlessly struggling to uncork the bottle of wine he's brought for the pair, from using his teeth to holding it with his feet, until finally he manages to get it off after the word "pop".
- Fun with Homophones: The French version of the song "La Seine et moi" plays on the words "Seine" and "Scène" (the stage) sounding the same. When it's Francœur's turn to sing, it's no longer about the river Seine, but about Lucille performing on stage.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Raoul has tricked up his van with many inventions, most of which don't work as intended.
- Gay Paree: The film gets a lot of mileage out of its turn-of-the-century Parisian setting.
- Gentle Giant: Francœur, who is very large and wouldn't hurt a flea.
- Hartman Hips:
- Lucille has this figure, and her angel dress deliberately accentuates her hips to highlight it.
- The lady who drops her necklace in the alley way has even more prominent curves.
- Heel–Face Turn: Pâté, who slowly realizes over the course of the film that Maynott is not exactly the responsible authority figure, has one during the film's climax. He's ultimately the one who arrests Maynott when the commissioner appears to have killed Francœur.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Raoul and Émile seem to be this. Both colleagues and best friends, they're rarely apart.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Pâté shows Undying Loyalty towards Maynott, despite the fact that Maynott makes it increasingly obvious that he's an arrogant, vapid and self-centered jerk. Pâté finally comes to his senses at the climax of the movie and arrests Maynott himself.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Francœur and Lucille. While Lucille is about average height, Francœur towers over regular humans and turns their performances together into this trope.
- Hurricane of Puns: Raoul frequently includes puns in his quips. In the English version one doubles as a Shout-Out to Back to the Future.
- Imagine Spot: The film begins with Émile going on a fantastical date with Maude that cultivates in him battling a dragon. This is quickly revealed to simply be a dream he was having while he ran a dragon-themed movie.
- Impending Doom P.O.V.: Parodied. When Lucille is reading the notice about the monster, it cuts to a POV of something large and looming creeping up behind her...which actually just turns out to be Raoul delivering champagne.
- Immune to Bullets: Francœur takes a couple shots to the exoskeleton without batting an eye.
- In a Single Bound: Francœur still has the abilities of a flea, including the ability to jump to incredible heights proportionate to its body, which naturally leads to some pretty awesome Roof Hopping.
- Indy Ploy:
- This is Raoul's schtick during the climax; using his coat to block off the police cars chasing him by throwing it to a hungry horse, activating and deactivating the flap on Catherine over and over to sail across the flooded Seine, and using the seed he pocketed at the lab to grow a giant sunflower that provides him and Lucille with a safe landing when they fall from the Eiffel Tower.
- Also in the climax, Émile uses the Eiffel Tower's searchlight to temporarily blind Maynott after he's forced to slide the latter's gun back over.
- Insistent Terminology: Raoul's coat isn't made of straw, it's made of a very expensive material! Although eventually Raoul gives in and admits that, yes, it's made of straw.
- Instant Expert: Francœur learns to sing, dance and play guitar incredibly fast. He's also seen writing a piano piece later in the movie despite never having any training in writing music.
- Jerkass: Albert, a pompous and untalented hack who later sells the protagonists out to Maynott.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Raoul can be irresponsible, rude, and overly confident to the point of arrogance, but when the chips are down he proves to be a loyal and dedicated friend.
- Laughing Mad: Maynott has a fit of maniacal laughter after apparently killing Francœur in the climax.
- Last Day of Normalcy: The first quarter of the movie shows a day in the life of Émile and Raoul, respectively a cinema operator and a delivery guy/inventor, as well as a day in the life of the singer Lucille, establishing that she's under a lot of stress due to her aunt Carlotta pressuring her to accept the courting of Commissioner Maynott and also because they must find a new musician for the show.
- Light Is Not Good:
- Maynott's signature outfit is a light brown suit, verging on yellow, and his presence is always indicated either by a spotlight, daylight, or a well-lit room. He's also a pompous psychopath and the main antagonist of the film.
- Contrasted with Francœur, who is quite possibly the kindest character in the film, but also has a navy blue complexion, is frequently depicted at night/during cloudy days, and wears a dark coat and hat as part of his disguise.
- Like Brother and Sister: Lucille and Francœur, according to Word of God. They dance and sing together a lot, so one might assume this would be an Interspecies Romance story, but it's pretty clear they don't see each other that way.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Francœur gets his name from a sign in the alley where Lucille finds him.
- Little People Are Surreal: Averted. While Émile is technically a little person, the film treats this characteristic with sensitivity, touching on how this impacts his self-esteem.
- Love Triangle: Averted. Fans assumed this would be the case, partly thanks to some unreliable English summaries.
- Madness Mantra: After seeing Francœur in the alleyway outside the cabaret, Lucille hides behind the door and repeats that "It's just a nightmare, I will wake up."
- Male Gaze: During the broken necklace scene in the alleyway, the camera noticeably lingers on the behind of the woman in the red coat.
- Medium Blending: The film opens with a newsreel of live-action footage of the real 1910 flood.
- Monumental Battle: The climax takes place in the Eiffel Tower.
- Never Trust a Trailer: The American trailer for the movie led many to believe that Francœur and Lucille would end up romantically involved, a la Beauty and the Beast, with Raoul playing the part of Gaston. None of this turned out to be true.
- No Flow in CGI: Impressively averted with Lucille's performance dress and Francœur's cloaks/scarves.
- Nonhumans Lack Attributes: Justified with Francœur, since fleas' reproductive organs aren't readily visible or recognizable as such. Played straight with Charles.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Francœur's coat, hat, and mask magically trick people into thinking he's human, despite the fact that his blue face, huge yellow eyes, and large pincers are still quite visible under his mask.
- Plot Allergy: Raoul's feather allergy gets him in trouble several times, particularly by embarrassing Lucille while she's in her angel costume and later by triggering an Ill-Timed Sneeze that almost causes him and Lucille to fall off the Eiffel Tower.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Pâté is set up as a Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist and consistently has the good of the city in mind.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Averted in the first stinger, when the heroes use the rapidly-growing dandelions to drain the overflowing river.
- Scenery Porn: Paris is pretty, and this movie wants you to know that.
- Shout-Out:
- A couple enters a dark alley after watching a performance and the wife's pearl necklace breaks, like the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents.
- Francœur's "monster" outfit makes him look like The Shadow.
- The mask Francœur wears while performing with Lucille makes him look like The Phantom of the Opera (if he were a Smooth Criminal).
- The "eccentric" wig Francœur initially tries out is the same "owl" hairstyle famously donned by his original voice actor, French singer-songwriter Matthieu Chedid (better known as -M-).
- Madame Carlotta's name may be a reference to the character Carlotta from The Phantom of the Opera. Raoul also has the same name as the Victorious Childhood Friend in The Phantom of the Opera.
- Lucille's "Reason You Suck" Speech to Maynott is more than a little reminiscent of "He's no monster, Gaston, YOU are!"
- Shrinking Violet: Émile is a male example.Émile: The smaller you are, the less people look at you. At...At least that's been my experience.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Lucille, who is the female lead.
- Skewed Priorities:
- When the bus narrowly avoids colliding with Raoul's truck and throws Francœur face first into the hood, Lucille immediately checks to see if he's injured. Raoul's only concern is that the impact damaged the hood.
- At the end of the movie, Lucille confesses that she stole Raoul's toy car when they were children to entice him to follow her. When she goes in for a kiss, he interrupts the romantic moment to ask if she still has the toy.
- The Speechless: Francœur is incapable of speaking, communicating via chirps and clicking his pincers instead. However, he's able to form words if he sings themnote .
- The Stinger: There's one mid-credits scene (see Reed Richards Is Useless above) and another post-credits scene that shows the villain's final fate: languishing in a jail cell alongside two horrible singers).
- Talking Animal: Charles is an interesting variation. He can't physically talk, but circumvents this by writing on cards to communicate. Likewise, Francœur is normally incapable of speech, but - thanks to the effects of the Atomize-A-Tune - he's able to sing very clearly.
- Talking with Signs: Charles is trained to communicate through messages written out on cards.
- Title Drop: A few;
- Firstly, there's the newsboy who exclaims "THERE'S A MONSTER IN PARIS!" to get Raoul's attention after the argument scene.
- Francœur's first song is titled after the movie and, expectedly, namedrops it a few times.
- In the film's climax, Lucille faces Maynott and exclaims "The papers were right; there is a monster in Paris and I'm looking right at him...!"
- To Be Lawful or Good: Pâté is confronted to this choice as he realizes that Maynott is a bastard who's completely lost his sanity. He chooses the second option.
- Took a Level in Badass: During the climax, Émile shakes off his chronic lack of confidence and helps fight Maynott, ultimately playing a key role in stopping Maynott and saving his friends.
- Touch of the Monster: Subverted. Lucille faints at the first sight of Francœur. He catches her and cradles her, and the position they end up in is evocative of old pulp magazine covers, specifically the Rape of the Sabine Women variation. The big difference is, of course, that Francœur means Lucille no harm at all.
- Tsundere: Lucille has been this to Raoul since the first grade, teasing him because she wanted him to follow her (which Raoul expectedly took the wrong way, leading to their initial rivalry). At the end of the film, both she and Raoul clear things up and confess their love for each other.
- Vocal Dissonance: Francœur, a 7-foot-tall flea monster, has a high-pitched voice that's almost angelic.
- Villainous Breakdown: While Maynott was clearly never a rational man to begin with, he gets increasingly more unhinged as the movie goes on, culminating in him wildly brandishing a firearm and laughing maniacally when he believes he's killed Francœur.
- Villainous Crush: Maynott for Lucille. It's obvious he's eager to have her as a Trophy Wife.
- Wham Line: In-Universe for Pâté. In the film's finale, Lucille tries to stop Maynott from ascending the tower and killing Francœur by pulling a Go Through Me, to which Maynott just laughs "Don't tempt me!". Cut to Pâté looking on visibly disturbed.
- What a Piece of Junk: Raoul's truck, Catherine. He loves "her" more than such a truck might deserve.
- White Gloves: Part of Francœur's costume for much of the movie.
