The inspector and the umbrella

Film commentary: The Inspector and the Umbrella

A beautiful hand-animated film that pays tribute to traditional animation and to Ward Walrath Kimball, a famous cartoonist and animator at Disney Studios.

Discover the 2D animation work of the director

Maël Gourmelen, who worked as a 2D animator on Klaus, a feature film produced by Netflix.
Watch the very instructive video on the 2D animation work of Maël Gourmelen...

Questioning the film: The Inspector and the Umbrella

Understand the story, the theme, express your sensibility and exercise your critical mind.

"His comedy was based entirely on this very simple observation: if you are the victim of one misfortune, you are interesting; if you have two misfortunes, you are pitied; if you have a hundred misfortunes, you are laughed at."
Que ma joie demeure, Le Coq de bruyère, Michel Tournier (1978)

1 The main character wants to leave his house with his umbrella. What isspecial about the umbrella?
It comes to life and doesn't seem to want to let it go.
2 What does the inspector's relationship with his umbrella make you think of?
Itseems as if his umbrella is like a pet, for example a dog on a leash that doesn't want to give in.
3 What is the inspector trying to do when he falls out of the window and why?
He tries to unfold his umbrella to use it as a parachute.
4 While the inspector seems to be saved by the opening of the umbrella at the end of the film, what happens to him?
Lightning strikes him and he is completely burnt out.
5 Have you ever seen any cartoons like this? Which cartoons come to mind?
The character Jiminy Cricket and his umbrella in the film Pinocchio (1940), Tex Avery's characters the wolf, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Droopy...), SpongeBob SquarePants...
6 In your opinion, is the character's animation realistic?
No, it is caricatured and the deformations give the story a comical character

Download PDF of the film's educational activities

Created with the support of the Ministry of Education and the CNC.
Viewing of the film with the family, educational activities with parents at home and with teachers in class.
Trying your hand at cartooning (Visual arts) (Cycle 2 and 3)
Educational activities proposed by Valérie from the Val 10 blog based on the film The Inspector and the Umbrella.
Transforming a video into a comic strip (French) (Cycle 2 and 3)
Educational activities proposedby Valérie from the Val 10 blogbased onthe film The Inspector and the Umbrella.

Discover other educational sheets created with the support of the French Ministry of Education and the CNC...