A Town Called Panic (Panique au Village) is a Belgium made, stop-motion animated tv series and film, produced La Parti & Pic Pic André. The series and film is notable for its distinctive style - the characters are all tiny plastic figurines, like the kind you'd get in your granddad's toy box - and the hectic, erratic movements of everyone in the show. Aardman Animations produces an equally irreverent English dub of the series.
A Town Called Panic centers around three inhabitants of the tiny town of Panic: Cowboy, Indian and Horse. They are an actual Cowboy, Indian and Horse. Cowboy and Indian are childish, dimwitted and perpetually fighting amongst themselves, whilst Horse is a marginally more adult father figure to the others. Throughout the course of the series, they generally quarrel amongst themselves, cause trouble for the locals, and get into highly surreal situations.
The 2009 film begins with Cowboy and Indian trying to build a barbeque for Horse's birthday. Due to a typo, they accidentally order 50 million more bricks than they actually need. To hide their mistake from Horse, they stow the excess bricks on the roof, which causes the house to collapse. Horse, who has become smitten with a lovely mare music teacher, is tasked with rebuilding the house - an effort made harder by a family of Jerkass underwater creatures in frog suits who keep stealing everything. Much Hilarity Ensues, along with kung-fu fighting scientists, giant snowball tossing robots, and the world's loudest farmer.
A Trope Called Panic:
- Amusing Injuries: One popular Running Gag in the series is Horse kicking Cowboy and Indian into a wall, where they ricochet off into a grandfather clock and land face-first in the wall above their beds.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Cowboy and Indian. Indian is the biggest extent however.
- Big Eater: Steven's breakfast.
- Bigger on the Inside: All the buildings shown are these.
- Brick Joke: A literal example.
- Chronically Crashed Car: Steven's precious tractor. Horse's car gets ruined a few times too.
- For the Evulz: The mad scientists who launch giant snowballs all over the world, seemingly just for kicks.
- Humongous Mecha: The snow ball launching penguin droid.
- I Fell for Hours: After falling down the hole beneath the bear's house, Horse, Cowboy, Indian, and Gerard fall for so long that they start playing cards.
- Manchild: Cowboy and Indian. Steven the farmer too.
- Mad Scientist: From the film, the trio of scientists who devote their efforts to launching colossal snowballs at blameless passerbys. They also beat people up on sight and force them into servitude.
- No Indoor Voice: Steven the farmer always shouts.
- The Precious, Precious Car: Steven's tractor.
- Reaching Between the Lines: When Cowboy accidentally drops his phone in lava while on a call, the phone on the other end bursts into flames.
- Stylistic Suck: The simplistic toy figurine characters and their clumsy movements.
- Trigger-Happy: Cowboy and Indian are always quick to brandish their weapons.
- Water Is Air: Aside from the fact the main characters wear snorkels (and only outside), you can hardly tell that they're underwater when they're underwater.
- World of Ham
