axapvov Sorry, I´m going to state the obvious here. Comedies should be funny, horror movies should be scary, family movies should be a family experience. In that regard, this is a masterpiece. I watched this with my son and we both had a terrific time. Funny, original and gorgeous, the story-telling is brilliant and had him interested until the end. For a silent film to keep me, meh, but to keep a six year-old... that is some accomplishment. The mix of CGI and real life shots is a triumph and this will most probably still look amazing 20 years from now. It´s a feast to the senses.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Minuscule - La vallée des fourmis perdues" or "Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants" is a 2013 animated film that runs for 85 minutes only and that already includes a fair share of credits. So a fairly short film by writer/director duo Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo. The two already worked on the television series that came before this film. Their work with the movie got them an impressive deal of awards recognition, also at fairly prestigious events. And I can see why. We basically follow a ladybird that starts an unusual friendship with an ant and is treated as a friend afterward by the ant's colony. However, not everything is harmonic as the fight for food and daily survival gets our heroes into battles with dangerous fish and red ants, who are the main antagonists in here.It took so long for this film to finally hit theatres in Germany here, but now the movie is there. And they did not even had to dub anything as the film is completely silent in terms of dialogue. It is not silent in terms of animal noise and music though and the music is one of the areas where this film really delivers. But the biggest area is the animation. They managed a nice mix of cute and stunning here, but mostly stunning as the ladybug is really almost the only cute character in here. If you love ladybugs as much as I do, then this is certainly worth checking out. The story is not 100% convincing, but there are enough quality moments in terms of comedy and drama to let me recommend this film. If your kid does not get bored by animation movies in which the animals aren't speaking than it's a good watch for him/her too. To me, maybe because of the lack of language, this film had a very documentary aspect to it. I enjoyed the watch. Thumbs up.

shawneofthedead Does the world really need another animated movie centred around the inner worlds of bugs? After all, we already have quite a few of those: in 1998 alone, Pixar produced the effervescent A Bug's Life, while DreamWorks dreamt up the more acerbic Antz. But there's something to be said for the simple, sweet charms of Miniscule: Valley Of The Lost Ants, a French effort which eschews the wisecracks and anthropomorphism that helped audiences warm up to the insectoid protagonists of the aforementioned films. Instead, by mixing ingenious sound effects and lovingly-shot real-life footage into its slight plot, Miniscule conjures up a cheerful, cheeky world that's steeped in both realism and fantasy.The film opens on an idyllic picnic in the French countryside, before it zooms down to the miniscule level of its protagonists. A ladybug is forcibly separated from his family when one of his tiny wings is clipped. Lonely and unsure of what to do, he hides out in a tin box left in the forest by humans. Before long, he finds himself in the company of a troop of black ants, who decide to bring the box and all its sugary treasures home to their queen. Together, ladybug and black ants begin a perilous trek across pastures, hills and rivers, pursued all the while by a host of ravenous red ants. When war breaks out between the two ant colonies, it's up to our little ladybug friend to save the day.It's easy to see why Miniscule was such a hit in France. With nary a word of dialogue, the film nevertheless manages to be surprisingly witty and genuinely funny. Much of its humour is physical, of course: the eye of the red ant leader twitches in anger, and the black ant archivist tries but fails to figure out a numerical slider puzzle. But the gags are also enriched by a welcome burst of surrealism: for instance, the red ants carry not just bug spray but a fork into battle. The character design is delightful, with the ladybug and ants being particularly endearing to kids and adults alike. It's beautifully animated to boot (at least when focused on its smaller friends), with its protagonists dancing through gorgeous outdoor footage of Provence's pastures and forests.But, although a generally charming, pleasant watch, Miniscule is not without its problems. Sometimes, one gets the feeling that the film's story and style would be better suited to the small screen - and, indeed, Miniscule is the feature-length version of a popular French TV series, in which insectoid adventures unfold in six-minute segments. It's clearly pushing it for its plot to be expanded to almost 90 minutes. As a result, parts of its narrative positively drag, particularly when the ladybug makes his valiant bid to save his ant buddies. He experiences so many detours along the way that one can't help but wonder why the ants haven't already been massacred by the time he finally returns.All in all, Miniscule is undemanding animated fare for all the family. It might bore older viewers in parts, and puzzle younger viewers at others (no, ladybugs can't re-generate lost wings!), but it's so quaint, charming and well-meaning that it's hard to dislike anything about it.

Reno Rangan I am the big fan of the television short-video series 'Minuscule'. I watched all of them like a kid when it was aired in my country on Nickelodeon. Along with me everyone in my family loved it and each of us like different characters. So we all expected this movie from the very beginning when they announced the project. The wait is over, I saw it a couple of days ago and I totally loved it.It was the best choice of characters for the movie over plenty of tiny creatures are desperate to debut on the silver screen. They chose ants and ladybugs and their adventures filled with lots of humour. This was the story of a young ladybug who got separated from his parents. He meets a pack of black ants who are on a hunt for food, then they team up and help each other to face the challenge that coming in their way to home. Especially red ants who are on the trail to snatch their finds. This running and chasing between two small groups of creature becomes a crucial war between those races.If you are familiar with this TV series, then you will clearly understand the characters and their behaviour. Not much deviated, they kept as much the original except stretched to 90 minutes runtime. The story was largely inspired from 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Each section of the story telling reminds different episode of 'The Lord of the Rings'. First, it begins with 'The Fellows of the Sugar Cubes', then 'The Single Tower' and ends with 'The Return of the Queen'. All the way it was so much fun like you had for the TV series.No need to worry for the first time watcher, especially who are unfamiliar with these little characters. It was more like another version that you had seen in the Hollywood animations 'Antz', 'A Bug Life' 'Bee Movie' et cetera. The best part of all of it was this movie was dialogueless. No speaking, no names and no hard-coded subs. It only features amusing sounds created by the bugs and the wonderful background scores. It's a universal theme and presentation without any language barriers.A specially made movie for children with fine story. In company of them adults as well can enjoy it equally. One of the best animation movie, in fact the best children's movie of the year. Hope this title continues with many sequels in which each of the installments should brief different bug's or insect's tales. A must show to the kids and must see by the animation movie fans. Have this and have a great time.