Illusions of grandeur: the Triplets of Belleville's unique look was created with the help of 2D and 3D tools.(film)

One of the most imaginative films of 2003 has risen from the ashes of what some people have bemoaned to be a dying art: 2D feature animation. By taking advantage of at least one unique quality of 2D animation--the freedom to exaggerate--Sylvain Chomet's film The Triplets of Belleville sets a new standard for hand-drawn storytelling. In what other medium would you find three old, impoverished, yet stylish cabaret singers accompanying themselves with sounds made with a vacuum cleaner, crumpling newspaper, and refrigerator racks? The award-winning film, which has almost no dialogue, leaves reviewers gasping for words.

Roger Ebert writes in the Chicago SunTimes, "It ...