The Red Balloon Remake

I remember being a kid in school and watching Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 French short, “The Red Balloon.” Ah, I can still hear the projector reeling in magic into my heart. If you didn’t go to school back in the sixties and seventies you probably don’t even know what I am talking about.

The film tells a story of a little boy who becomes friends with a balloon, trains it, and the balloon takes on a life of its own. It becomes his friend, it follows him everywhere like a little dog, and it plays with the boy in the pretty streets of Paris. The balloon even warns him of danger, and helps him escape from a gang of bullies who want to destroy the balloon.

For a while the balloon manages to escape the gang of bullies, but eventually the balloon is caught and destroyed. I remember crying in this scene along with my classmates. All of sudden an army of colorful balloons appear in the skies and take the boy away to the heavens…Away from all harm. Our school auditorium was filled with children clapping and stomping in celebration. Our tears became joy in an instant.

I must’ve seen this film a couple of times as a child and what an impression it made on me. A new movie titled “Flight of the Red Balloon,” is now out and from what I can understand it’s not really a re-make, but an “homage” to the beloved movie. I don’t know, but my feeling on this is, just leave classic film alone. Why ruin a good thing? Click here to read about the new film. Have you ever seen this classic film?