The Illusionist

To a creator, the animated French film, The Illusionist, demonstrates exceptional cartoon illustrations throughout the storyline. When the director wants to get a point across, he doesn't just show by actions, but by one's appearance, too. In poking fun at the image of the fan girls, they are made to look crazed and unintelligent to the viewer. This is made possible, also, by the band coming off extremely excessive and not very talented. These highly contrast the fans of the magician, being an old, emotionless lady with her overweight grandson.  I believe these characters were made this way to evoke pity towards the magician because he seems "normal."
 When the illusionist travels to Scotland, he is found to be much more interesting and appreciated. The people there are showed to be genuine and kind, such as the hostel owner, his family, and the other guests. Their culture contradicts the mainstream London culture of screaming fans and busy streets with their appreciation of a simple lightbulb and the illusionist's show. This fits beautifully with the plot as well. At this point, the little girl comes in as a daughter figure, creating a kinship with the man. Whereas in London, he seemed to be alone with his pesky rabbit.
The contrast of the London setting and the Scotland setting also bring up the idea of normalcy. In London, the illusionist didn't seem to be successful in the least. But, he seemed to get by much better in Scotland. With the kind people, the friendship created with the little girl, and his success, the viewer is aimed to see Scotland in a better light. This shows the classic idea of city versus country. In this scenario, the director has us believing that the quiet country is a much more realistic and normal society to live in.
Finally, the overall craftsmanship and work done on the illustrations of this movie is more than impressive to me. Each of the characters is quite unique. This movie does not fall into the category of those in which all the characters were clearly done with the same style and intention. The little girl and the illusionist each have a very different, yet readable look to them. But, the screaming fan girls all seem to look the same, giving them that unimportant, blended role in the film. Not only the characters, but the  multiple landscape scenes look idyllic in each view. The lighting in them seems to come up and brighten each of the colors as it leads you into the next scene. An example of this is when at the end of the day it turns from dark to light outside, showing the bright colors of the Scottish village.
Having never seen this full movie, I did not get to fully enjoy the plot line. But, I was very captivated by the incredible work done on the details of emotion.