How animated Oscar contender 'Arco' imagines not one climate apocalypse but two

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The most impressive part of French animated sci-fi epic “Arco,” which took the top prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, is its imaginative world-building.In fact, first-time director Ugo Bienvenu conjures not one but two apocalyptic climate futures for his 2D time-travel odyssey, produced by actor Natalie Portman and distributed by Neon in an English-language version.

(The voice cast also boasts the star power of Portman, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Flea, Mark Ruffalo and Andy Samberg.)The first future we encounter in the film, where titular youngster Arco (Juliano Valdi) comes from, takes place around the year 3000.Humanity, which has gained the capability of time travel, lives among the clouds, collecting extinct flora from the past to populate lush, green gardens on elevated platforms while Earth undergoes a healing process below.When Arco steals his older sister’s magical rainbow cloak to return in time to see dinosaurs, he messes up and instead lands back in 2075.

Here he encounters the environmentally ravaged world of youngster Iris (Romy Fay), where suburbia is protected from extreme natural disasters by bubble shields, and robots, hover scooters and holograms are mainstays.Arco and Iris become fast friends and go on an adventure to get Arco back home.For Bienvenu, best known for his graphic novels, shorts and music videos, the goal was to present a future filled with hope.

“A lot of people have asked me to adapt one of my comics,” he said in October at the Animation Is Film Festival in Hollywood.“But I’m fed up with adaptations.

I wanted to show my kids a movie that will print itself strongly in the unconscious.And science fiction depicts a world that is ending most of the time.

And I thought: If we’re living in a bad science fiction movie now, let’s create science fiction that would create a better world.”Bienvenu, who pri...