I had been waiting to see this film for months, and finally got the chance today. I wasn't disappointed, the animation, backgrounds and music were all superb. It's very easy to like the main character, Tati, and his impeccably good nature. While the film shows off Scotland in warm, humorous tones, there is a real melancholy which starts to set in past the half way point.
Tati picks up a female companion near the start, who after watching the film, Lynsey and I felt she was abusing his good nature for personal gain. Then I read wikipedia, where director Sylvain Chomet has been quoted to say "A young lady actually thinks he's a real magician." This was apparent at the start of the movie, where she expects him to be able to fix a young lad's stuffed bear that had burst at the neck, also the community in which she resides has little to no touch with the outside world. So now it makes more sense, as the money he gives her is always pulled out of the air, and the gifts he bestows are always via magical tricks (and in one case, it was perceived to be magical.) I guess this must have been really obvious, but as I said, there was a moment where I thought that she believed him to be an actual magician, just that later on those thoughts were dispelled.
But anyway, it's an excellent film, probably the only animated one which depicts Scotland both realistically and respectfully.
