Red Balloon : Red Balloon

Original Release: 1956  DVD Released: 4/2008

Genre: Children's/Family

DVD Coded for Region: 1 - North America

Languages: French Subtitles: English

Sound options: Dolby Digital Monaural

This DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rated: NR

Length: 34

Category: Features

The All Music Guide rating for this work on a 1-9 scale (9=best) is 9

Most of French director Albert Lamorisse 's films celebrate the miracle of flight, but few were as landmark as his 1956 short subject The Red Balloon . The story, told with a minimum of dialogue, concerns a little boy (played by the director's son Pascal ) who comes across a helium-filled balloon. As he plays with his new acquisition, the boy discovers that the balloon seemingly has a mind of its own. The little red orb follows its new 'master' all through the streets of Paris, then dogs the boy's trail into the schoolroom, which drives the teacher to comic distraction. Towards the end, it seems as though boy and balloon will be parted forever....but director Lamorisse has a delightful surprise in store for us. In an unusual move, The Red Balloon in its American TV premiere was introduced by Ronald Reagan as an episode of the CBS anthology G.E. Theater on April 2, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A classic short film and a beloved children's story, Albert Lamorisse 's Le Ballon Rouge (1956) radiantly celebrates the ability of a child's imagination to take flight. Starring Lamorisse 's winsome son, Pascal Lamorisse , and the most expressive crimson helium and rubber object ever, Le Ballon Rouge 's tale about a boy and his eponymous object is a touching fable of friendship and loss, as the balloon takes it upon itself to join the boy in his daily activities. Floating along with the boy, the balloon wreaks comic havoc on the boy's daily routine, and moves lyrically through his Paris neighborhood; their seemingly doomed adventures reach a magical conclusion that caps the film's visual beauty. A prize winner at Cannes and the New York Film Critics Circle's Best Foreign Film, Le Ballon Rouge even enchanted the Academy enough to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, a rare honor for a short (not to mention foreign and dialogue-free) film, and a testament to its durable, fanciful charm. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Newly restored, Albert Lamorisse's exquisite The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved children's films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world's harsh realities finally interfere. With its glorious palette and allegorical purity, the Academy Award-winning The Red Balloon has enchanted movie lovers, young and old, for generations.