Fantastic Planet is a 1973 experimental independent adult animated science fiction art film, directed by René Laloux and written by Laloux and Roland Topor. The film is an allegorical story about humans living on a strange planet dominated by giant humanoid aliens who consider them animals. Fantastic planet is ultimately an allegory for animal rights, human rights and a fight against oppression mirroring evil atrocities in human history.
The film starts with a woman running with a child up a hill only for the aliens to push her down again. With its finger. The mirrors nail rights in the abuse of animals as shown with other species, human rights with the humans being treated like salves as well as racism. This showcase of the woman rolling down the hill also mirrors the myth of Sisyphus with the woman trying and trying to overcome her oppressors only to never being able to. When the aliens put down rocks to stop the woman they are acting like gods as well as kids trapping an ant. This links back to the idea of animal rights in how these creatures are toying with the humans. This also showcases human rights and racism in how these two species are separated and dominate the other. The film is very much allegorical about the atrocities of man as shown throughout the film. The aliens throw knifes at one of the humans as she runs away. This also highlights the allegorical nature of the film links the acts of the aliens on humans to animal rights, human rights, racism, slavery, and the atrocities of man.
One of the Traags lift the women up linking to the idea that they are like gods, before they kill the mother and only the baby is left. This leads to the young Traag and his father taking in the baby like an adopted pet form his dead mother. This again links to animal rights in how humans just seemly adopted animals and take them from their mothers with no thought, human rights in how things such as slavey keep other humans subservient to others and racism in how the Traags see themselves as superior to the Oms. The Traags adopt the human like a baby animal, they also give him a collar witched can be used to control him. The Traag plays with the human using n his collar device like a salve. This links to the idea of animal rights in how we collar, control, and domesticate animals, human rights in how we can oppress certain groups to control them and racism in how slavery was used to control and dominate and certain group of people. Throughout the film they liken humans to animals in giving them names and saying not to hurt them because there delicate.
The higher ups of the Traag society function very much like the higher ups of our society. The Traags look at humans like humans look at animals not seeing their intelligence, they talk about adaptation as its seems that the only way the overcome an oppressor is to adapt. This links into the idea humans being intelligent creatures. This again links to the idea of human rights in how people just to see certain races as inferior to another. This also links to the idea of racism in now certain races are opposed. This again showcases the atrocities of man with things such as slavery being showcased throughout the film to highlight these horrific acts. The Oms look at the remains of their own human history, As the child human ins treated like a pet by the child Traag but still treated with love. When the humans run and hide its shows that they are far more intelligent than the Traags realise. This again links to the idea of animal rights in human humans see there species as superior, human rights are also shown in how certain groups of people oppress another, this is shown thought-out the racism and slavery within the film linking to the real-world racism and slavery existing in our world. Fantastic Planet presents this idea of hierarchies within hierarchies as the young Draag gets scolded by his elders with all of them seeing humans as pets. This links again to the idea of animal rights in how certain species are more superior than others, human rights in how certain races are more superior to others, racism in how people can use a difference in biology to oppress another and slavery in how these lower-class lifeforms are enslaved by their masters. With the Traag putting on makeup it is interesting how many human traits these aliens have, the human meses up their makeup as a joke and in turn is punished. Despite this however there seems to be a genuine love between master and slave, this film constantly shows the oppressive society with only the higher ups having education.
The main human also requires this knowledge through there broken collar. The humans are encased by diamonds by the Traags only for them to whistle and be let out, from this the humans learn that that whistling can destroy the diamonds. Two women have their hair tied in a knot as they wrestle as they treat humans like salves or dogs. Both the main Traag and main Om are in a sense outcast, the human learns the Traag lessons as well to make him smarter so they can overthrow them. The Traags learnt to remontants of human history as throughout the film there is the idea of knowledge is power. The main slave ran away from the female Traag as they grew apart and meets humans living in a cave like cavemen. The film presents the idea of the dangers of a religious cult as shown through their leader giving them false hope in hard times with the glowing rocking linking to the humans being Enlighted. With the woman being stripped naked it links both to basic human eroticism as well as a call back to Adam and eve in how humans must reclaim the world once more. The humans then split into factions with the cult and the humans trying to gain the knowledge of the Traags. They engage in gladiator style wrestling matches with creatures tied to them, creatures also envelope the protagonist in a substance like clay forging him a new outfit like how Adam was forged from the clay. This Adam and Eve symbolism is shown throughout the film with girls dancing around the protagonist and running away again.
People have turned into a religious cult due to exposure due to the meditative knowledge of the Traags. The humans anchor a bird and kill it linking into this idea of man being primitive with them drinking and showering in blood linking to primitive religious acts showcasing these humans as a primitive species when compared to the aliens. Both the humans and the Traags are shown to be oppressed by the same hierarchal structures showcasing that it ultimately these intuitions that creates these atrocities. The humans end up turning on each other. With the protagonist the Traag pet being knocked out. This again links into the themes of animal rights, human rights and racism with the film being about the dangers of fighting against people of species different from you. As our protagonist warns another tribe that the tribe, he was in is going to attack the Traags. The humans get gassed by the Traags and smoked out this links both to animal rights with them acting like hunters as well as human atrocities with the gas attacks being like the holocaust. The humans are being used like hunting dogs during the war with gas masks on them links to the idea of the film being an allegory for animal rights in how different species are exploited, human rights in how one humanoid group oppresses another and racism in how a different race control and exploits them.
The aliens crush the humans like ants, which leads to them revolting in an Animal Farm-esc way with them killing their masters. The aliens then hold a democratic government meeting on what should be done with humans highlighting the corruption of power within society. With the aliens attacking the Oms it links to the idea of animal rights in how people oppress other animals. This also showcases human rights and how one group and oppress another group with ideas such as racism being showcased throughout the film with different people trying to control another group. With the extermination of the Oms the Draags debate what to do with them. The Oms however are seen to be intelligent as shown with them starting their own civilisation. The humans ultimately evolve and regain their knowledge of technology to overthrow their masters. The film shows that despite being slaves the humans are still humans regardless of their Traag masters. The film ends with them escaping in a rocket as the other Om were captured or killed. On this new planet the humans meet aliens in balls that attach to headless figures that dance and fly away the film ends in a very human way with the statues being zapped killing them centring the idea that love can concur all.
Fantastic Planet is a film about how peace between all races and species the only way to live. The film is about how ever species and people on this planet must come together to fight against oppression and the atrocities in human history to create a better world.