Even animated plastic toys like Cowboy, Indian and Horse have problems too. Cowboy and Indian's plan to surprise Horse with a homemade birthday gift backfires when they destroy his house instead. Surreal adventures ensue as the trio travel to the centre of the earth, trek across frozen tundra and discover a parallel underwater universe where pointy-headed (and dishonest!) creatures live. With panic a permanent feature of life in this papier mâché town, will Horse and his girlfriend ever be alone?

A Town Called Panic (Panique au village) is one of the rare full-length animated films ever to secure the honour of a coveted slot in the Official Selection (in this case, Out of Competition) at Cannes. The cast first appeared in acclaimed short films that followed the offbeat adventures of a dozen characters that happen to be generic plastic toys. A Town Called Panic became a cult TV series whose 20 memorably outrageous animated episodes were telecast in 2003 by Canal+ (in France and Belgium) prior to making their way around the world to festival acclaim and TV popularity (Nickelodeon, WDR, Canal+ Spain, etc.), eventually landing in the hands of the folks at Aardman Studios, who handled the English dubbing. Each speedy character is voiced — and animated —as if their very air contains both amphetamines and laughing gas. Those of you who've never seen the series will likely have caught a flavour of the style in the TV commercials for Cravendale, also the work of animators Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar, aka Pic Pic André.

This feature-length version is being presented in the UK by Hammer & Tongs (Hitchhiker's Guide, Son of Rambow), huge fans of the TV series and now film, and premiered at Somerset House this summer before receiving a theatrical release on September 20th. It's set to arrive on UK DVD on 22nd November 2010 from Optimum Home Entertainment at the RRP of £19.99. Extras will include an interview with directors Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar, and a trailer.