Mune: Guardian of the Moon

This multiple award-winning French computer-animated feature has been dubbed into English with a terrific vocal cast that includes Rob Lowe, Nicole Provost, and Christian Slater. Mune is a fantasy adventure about trying to restore nature after a villain's deception destroys night and day. Here, the alternation of sun and moon happens because great beasts carry the orbs in and out. For generation after generation, responsibility for keeping them on track has fallen to the Guardians. When the day comes for Sohone (Lowe) to be accepted as the new Guardian of the sun and Leeyoon (Slater) as Guardian of the moon, Sohone is chosen but Leeyoon is passed over in favor of young, inexperienced Mune (Joshua J. Ballard). With Leeyoon unhappy and ready to subvert the new order, the underworld figure Necross (Davey Grant) sees an opportunity to blanket the world in permanent darkness. Sohone, Mune, and Glim (Provost)—a plucky girl made of wax—set off on a journey to undo Necross's damage. Filmmakers Benoît Philippon and Alexandre Heboyan have created a winning cross between creation myth and splendid adventure featuring a diverse cast of interesting characters who are capable of mistakes, failure, sacrifice, and redemption. Recommended. (T. Keogh)