The balloon is not so much magical as it is alive. This simple movie beautifully illustrates innocence, then innocence lost, and finally innocence triumphant.

The final shot is the little boy getting a magical flight over Paris, carried by the dozens of multicolored balloons. Suddenly dozens of balloons from all over Paris fly out of children’s hands and out of stores and up to where the little boy sits with his dead balloon.

The balloon slowly dies by losing air and floating to the ground where one of the boys cruelly steps on it. Bravely the Red Balloon refuses to obey and is hit by a rock from a sling shot. The boys attack the little boy and he tells his balloon to “Fly Away”. Once again the boy is able to retrieve his friend but the other boys chase him through the narrow back alleys of Paris and eventually regain control of the balloon. The jealous boys take this opportunity to kidnap the balloon. The next day the little boy tells his balloon to wait outside of a pastry shop while he goes in to get something sweet to eat. The little boy is able to get his friend back and manages to outrun the other boys and get safely home. Some neighborhood boys jealously steal the balloon away. The balloon goes to school with the boy and gets him in trouble. It follows him around and they have small adventures together on the beautiful old streets of Paris. The boy soon discovers his balloon is magical. He climbs up and unties the balloon and thus begins a unique cinematic friendship. Remarkable for a live-action short with only a few lines of spoken dialogue all of which are spoken in French.Ī little boy discovers a large red balloon tied to a lamp-post on the streets of Paris while walking to school.

It won all kinds of awards from film festivals around the globe, including - incredibly enough - the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It runs only 34 minutes but is a whimsical, magical half-hour of entertainment. The Red Balloon is a wonderful children’s fantasy made in 1956.

The red balloon by albert lamorisse