In its treatment of the more personal issues of growing up, it’s very effective. It delves into everything from acceptance, rebellion, love, anger, rejection, and above all, trying to find the right place in the world for yourself. It’s all very endearing and charming, not least of all because of the lead character. She’s the kind of bright-eyed, curious, and likeable little girl that’s a representation of the way we all would have liked to have been at that age.

There are two versions of the film available for audiences; in the UK and US it’s most likely the English language version that will be most readily available. In this version the voice casting defies the primary scepticism that I had by being pretty much perfect. There’s an unusual mix of voices from Sean Penn and Gene Rowlands to the very strange but very effective Iggy Pop. I usually can’t stand dubbed films but I make an exception for animation, that is if the casting is good, and here it very much is.

I was quite surprised at some of the content of the film taking into account it’s only a 12A rating (PG-13 in the US). It’s not only some of the moderate-to-strong language but some of the themes it deals with. I personally would have titled it a 15; perhaps if it was a live action film with the same content that would have been so.

I doubt if you will have seen anything quite like this before, not just in animation but film in general. It’s very creative with brilliantly original, simplistic animation and some great voice acting. It’s not perfect but it’s definitely one of the better films of 2008 so far.