Arthur and the Invisibles
Arthur and the Invisibles or Arthur and the Minimoys (French: Arthur et les Minimoys) is a 2006 English-language French live-action/animated fantasy film directed and co-written by French filmmaker Luc Besson. It is based on the first two books of the Arthur children's books series, Arthur and the Minimoys and Arthur and the Forbidden City, by Besson.
Arthur and the Invisibles was released theatrically in France on 29 November 2006 by EuropaCorp, followed by wide releases in a number of countries. It was re-released in France on 4 April 2007 with nineteen minutes of bonus footage. With a budget of €60 million, it was briefly the most expensive French film production, until it was surpassed by Astérix at the Olympic Games (2008).
The film received positive reviews from critics in France but was received negatively in the United States, with criticism aimed at the animation, script, humor, and editing, though Freddie Highmore’s performance and visual aspects were praised. The film was also a box-office success in France, but was a box-office bomb in the United States. It received the Imagina Award in the category Prix du Long-Métrage. Its soundtrack album was released on 9 January 2007. The film was later restored to its original format in 2023 as the Weinstein cut is no longer in marketing circulation following the closure of The Weinstein Company in 2018.
The film's success in France spawned a media franchise with two sequels, Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard (2009) and Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds (2010), and a spin-off, Arthur, malédiction (2022), as well as multiple video games, an animated television series and theme park attractions at Futuroscope and Europa-Park.
