Fantastic Fest 2009

"Will Horse find true love? Will Steven fix his tractor? What will it take to stop the underwater pond dwellers from stealing the walls of Cowboy, Indian and Horse’s house? Yes, boys and girls, it’s the feature version of A Town Called Panic, the demented cult Belgian animation sensation. And, yes, it is truly a sight to behold - a very odd sight that will confuse some while leaving others on the floor gasping for breath from laughing so hard.

To try and summarize something as manic as Panic is a chump’s game, it can’t really be done, but here’s what you need to know. Primitively animated in stop motion using clay models of the plastic cowboy, indian and farmyard plastic toys we all had as kids, Panic revolves around house-mates Cowboy, Indian and Horse as they go about their daily lives. Which in this case means dealing with the aftermath of an attempted birthday present gone wrong that results in fifty million bricks piled on the roof of the trio’s house, which then collapses under the weight of the bricks, which opens up a portal to a secret underwater civilization that covets the trio’s building skills and simply - and repeatedly - steals their home. There’s also a giant snowball throwing penguin-robot, parachuting cows, equine romance, parachuting cows and more, more, more. And also parachuting cows.

Series creators Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar are surely two of the most manic animators of our times, completely and utterly in touch with their inner children. No joke is too silly, no gag too bizarre for this pair. They've reined in their stream of consciousness urges slightly for the feature – Panic started life as a series of five minute shorts for Belgian television – but just barely, oddity heaped upon oddity as though the two were engaged in a non-stop game of one-upmanship throughout the entire production cycle. Juvenile and absurd are perfectly good descriptors when talking about Panic, though only if accompanied by ‘brilliant’ and ‘hysterical’. It’s time for the cult to cross the ocean. (Todd Brown)"