This One Thing Separates ‘Arco’ from the Animated Pack

The beginning of “Arco,” Ugo Bienvenu’s wonderful, animated fantasy, depicts the future world of 2932, where citizens live in clouds and time travel is a possibility.

Although time travel is forbidden for children under 12, young Arco (Juliano Krue Valdi) takes a literal leap from an impossibly high platform and tumbles into 2075. Initially, Arco is determined to find a way back home, but finds his journey is complicated by the friendship he shares with a ten-year old named Iris (Romy Fay).

This gorgeous French animated film is a time travel sci-fi adventure, and a look into a wild, plausible vision of the distant future. It’s also a little bit like “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982), but in the best way.

The only real stumbling block is in the needless villains and how they have been adapted for the US audience: Perhaps the trio of villains worked in the French version but, in the English dubbed US version provided by NEON, as voiced by Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg and Flea, the characters are more puzzling and irritating than intended.

The Three Stooges-like villains, all sporting ’80s-style sunglasses and stumbling over one another in every scene, may have clicked in the original version. Finding anything consistently funny for these nitwits to say proves to be a challenge even for the likes of Ferrell and Samberg.

“Arco” is absolutely spellbinding to gaze at, with the hand-drawn animation something truly special in the age of CGI over-saturation.

Bienvenu’s film resembles a Hayao Miyazaki movie at times and taps into the Studio Ghibli format. More importantly, it makes us care and invest emotionally in this world, even with the dream logic.

It takes the entire film to completely explain that logic and the specificity of the future settings, when a title card could have pulled us in quicker.

Yet “Arco” is rich with the sense of discovery it provides audiences. I was mesmerized by the depth of detail and a willingness to fully engage our imaginations right from the first scene.

It’s surprisingly emotional, with a death scene in the late going that earns our tears. Despite a few intense moments, this is mostly family-friendly. The PG-rating is merited and, unlike the recent “Sketch” (2025), an indication that early grade school kids won’t find it too grown-up or scary.

Finding a good family film to share with your child or children can be difficult. After all, what merits a PG rating, let alone is considered universally appropriate for a young audience, is highly debatable.

This is one of the few contemporary family films that I loved to share with my child and look forward to revisiting again. The beauty of “Arco” is as rich as the emotion and sweetness of the story.

Three and a half stars (out of four)

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