Cast: Stephen Fry, Marion Cotillard, Daisy Ridley, Matt Berry

Director: Jim Capobianco

In a movie world choking to death on CGI, it’s refreshing to know that the stop motion, Rankin/Bass-style historical adventure The Inventor awaits us this September. The film is the feature directing debut of Jim Capobianco, the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of Pixar’s Ratatouille. Along with co-director Pierre-Luc Granjon, Capobianco tells the story of 15th century painter, inventor, and architect Leonardo da Vinci. But Capobianco attacks da Vinci’s story from a most unique angle, telling Variety, “I knew he was going to die [at the end of the story] and ... I learned that he believed that he procrastinated a lot and he thought he didn’t finish a lot of the things he set out to do. So, I thought about what it would mean to this person.” Stephen Fry voices da Vinci with Marion Cotillard as Louise de Savoy (mother of King Francis I of France), and Daisy Ridley as Marguerite (a key figure towards the end of da Vinci’s life). This is one animated adventure that could put a (Mona Lisa) smile on your face. [Mark Keizer]

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