The Inventor is a beautifully created stop motion puppet and 2D hand-drawn animated biographical film about Leonardo da Vinci. It was written, produced and co-directed by Jim Capobianco, whom you may remember for his Oscar nomination for writing Ratatouille. 

 

This film is art in every sense of the word. I have the distinct feeling, after watching and marveling over it from beginning to end, that Leonardo da Vinci himself would be quite pleased with its creators (though he was notoriously never happy with his own work).

 

The talented voice cast for The Inventor includes Stephen Fry, Marion Cotillard, Daisy Ridley, and Matt Berry. The Inventor is a European-American co-production between the United States, France, and Ireland.

 

How do you capture the life events of a polymath – master of all trades – like da Vinci? Painter, engineer, scientist, architect, theorist, musician and the list goes on. I certainly learned a ton about the man that I did not know before watching The Inventor.

My one quibble with this film is that I’m not sure most modern kids will be able to sit through it. The Inventor is sophisticated, unique, inventive, smart and creative – but will it captivate children the way it captured my attention - an adult with an avowed interest in unique and smart storytelling in films? That, I don’t know.

 

There are so many great quotes in this film, from “We are not the center of all things” to “The secret of the soul is to share our passions with others” and “The soul is something you give.” I’d love to know which are actually quotes from da Vinci and which ones take some creative license. 

 

I truly can’t find fault with The Inventor. Even the music and songs, composed for the film, were surprisingly delightful. It is utterly stunning how much work must have gone into making this film – and if you stay until the end and watch the credits, you’ll see a few behind-the-scenes shots that hint at the massive undertaking.

 

The Inventor reminds me of the kids’ fare you find on PBS – it is definitely a cut above the usual animated film and closer to educational programming. Share it with kids who are curious, intellectual, science-minded and who will appreciate da Vinci’s insatiable curiosity and desire to learn. 

 

But perhaps don’t share it with kids who are too young or sensitive, as there are some scenes which could be scary (such as da Vinci’s frequent grave-robbing and autopsies of corpses in his quest to learn more about the secrets of life itself).

 

If you’re a fan of clever stay-till-the-end scenes in movies, be sure to watch through the credits for a couple of smart and funny moments which fellow nerds should enjoy as much as I did.