On this day in movie history - Fantastic Planet (1973 movie & novel):

Fantastic Planet

directed by René Laloux,

written by Roland Topor, René Laloux,

based on the novel Oms en série a.k.a. Oms Linked Together and Fantastic Planet by Stefan Wul,

released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 11, 1973.

Music by Alain Goraguer.

Cast: Jennifer Drake, Eric Baugin, Jean Topart, Jean Valmont, Sylvie Lenoir, Michèle Chahan, Yves Barsacq, Hubert de Lapparent, Gérard Hernandez, Claude Joseph, Philippe Ogouz, Jacques Ruisseau, Max Amyl, Denis Boileau, Madeleine Clervanne, William Coryn, Christian Echelard, Jeanine Forney, Pascal Kominakis, André Lambert, Mark Lesser, Serge Netter, Yvette Robin, André Rouyer, Irina Tarassov, Julien Thomast, Gilbert Vilhon, Paul Villé, Poupy de Monneron, Christian de Tillière, Cynthia Adler, Barry Bostwick, Mark Gruner, Nora Heflin, Marvin Miller, Monika Ramirez, Hal Smith, Olan Soule, Janet Waldo.

Recommended reading:

Fantastic Planet

By Stephan Wul.

Published by Creation Oneiros.

First published 1957.

ISBN-10: 1902197313

ISBN-13: 9781902197319

Description:

Now published for the very first time in English, Stephan Wul's Fantastic Planet (Oms En Serie) is a classic of Science Fiction and the inspiration for the award-winning 1973 animated film La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet).

The last surviving humans are taken from Earth to the wild planet Ygam by the traags, a race of blue-skinned, red-eyed giants. Here they become known as oms, used as lowly servants and regarded as savages.

But little by little, led by a young man of superior intelligence named Terr, the oms regain their thirst for liberty and rise up against the draags to affirm their humanity in the face of oppression.

This deceptively simple story-line is vividly depicted by author Wul with fantastic detail and a stirring mythopoeic resonance.

The film Fantastic Planet won the Grand Prix at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and remains a mind-bendingly entertaining touchstone of counterculture art; at last, English-language readers can enjoy the classic Sci-Fi novel that it was based on.