Lotte van Inventor’s Village – Leiutajateküla Lotte (2006)

Directed by: Heiki Ernits, Janno Põldma | 81 minutes | animation, comedy, family | Dutch voice cast: Nathalie Haneveld, Pepijn Koolen, Jurjen van Loon, Leo Richardson, Hymke de Vries, Wiebe Pier Cnossen, Melise de Winter, Rowin Schumm, Hetty Heyting, Thijs van Aken, Jan Nonhof, Carol van Herwijnen, Marcel Jonker, Timo Bakker , Hymke de Vries, Lucas Dietens, Louis van Beek, Niki Romijn, Mitchell van Dungen Bille, Timo Bakker, Bas Keijzer, Seb van den Berg, Ajolt Elsakkers, Patrick van Balen, Niki Romijn, Hein van Beem, Sita Manichand

Lotte and her family live in a sunny village on the coast. Lotte is a girl dog, actually more girl than dog, who spends the day playing, visiting fellow villagers and relaxing. Lotte has an indestructible good humor and a helpful character. Wherever a fellow villager is in need, Lotte is the first to help. That’s a good thing, because there are plenty of problems in Uitvindersdorp.

The two genteel moles, who live in a kind of mansion underground, suffer from ceiling ghosts. The young cat Bruno misses his father, a hammer thrower who has hurled himself beyond the horizon, bullet and all. And the son of rabbit Adalbert is weighed down by the ambitions of his father, who finally wants to win the invention competition.

All these characters come from the animation film ‘Lotte van Uitvindersdorp’. The animations in this Estonian production, which carries the fascinating title ‘Leiutajateküla Lotte’ in its country of origin, are miles away from the digital millimeter work of the American studios. In this cartoon the animations are rather basic, almost naive, so that it takes some getting used to for the spoiled viewer. However, it is all equally colorful and the artists have provided the characters with characterful heads.

Despite the simple drawing style, ‘Lotte van Uitvindersdorp’ never gets bored. The story is full of small comic surprises and the cheerful tone and cheerful songs will make you happy. Although Lotte is mainly intended for the little ones, carried away parents will also have a great time with this. Not because of clever asides or references to adult subjects, but because of the stubborn humor, fun storylines and ubiquitous cheerfulness.

In short, ‘Lotte van Uitvindersdorp’ is a very successful animation film for the whole family. That’s less surprising than you might think, because Estonia has a healthy animation scene that is also making its way internationally. And let’s be honest, this simple, sweet and cheerful children’s film is a breath of fresh air between Japanese and American animation violence.