New York-based indie distributor GKIDS announced today that it will release the English-language of the acclaimed pic Ernest & Celestine on March 14. The title will first open in New York and Los Angeles and go wide in subsequent weeks.
The just-completed English language voice cast includes Academy Award Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Mackenzie Foy (Twilight: Breaking Dawn), Lauren Bacall (The Big Sleep), Paul Giamatti (John Adams), William H. Macy (Fargo), Megan Mullally (Will and Grace), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), and Jeffrey Wright (Boardwalk Empire).
The 2D animated film centers on the unlikely friendship between Celestine, an artistic mouse and Ernest, a musically gifted bear. But it isn’t long before their friendship is put on trial by their respective bear-fearing and mice-eating communities.
Based on the children’s book series Gabrielle Vincent, Ernest & Celestine is directed by Benjamin Renner (A Mouse’s Tale) Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar (A Town Called Panic). The film was the winner of France’s Cesar Award for Best Animated Feature and numerous festival prizes last year and currently has a 100% rating on RottenTomatoes.com. The film recently wrapped its Oscar qualifying run in L.A. and New York and is also qualified to get a Golden Globe nomination.
Here’s a clip from the charming movie:
