| Francoeur | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Original | Francœur | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Species | Mutated flea | ||
| Gender | Male | ||
| Place of origin | Paris, France | ||
| Relations | Lucille (best friend)
Emile (best friend) Raoul (best friend) | ||
| Occupation | Musician | ||
| Current status | Active | ||
| Biology | |||
| Body type | Arthropod (formerly) Humanoid (currently) | ||
| Height | 8 feet tall | ||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Sapient | ||
| Behind the scenes | |||
| Universe | A Monster in Paris | ||
| Performed by | Matthieu Chedid (French) Sean Lennon (English) | ||
Francoeur is the main protagonist of the French animated film, A Monster in Paris. He is voiced by Sean Lennon in the English dub, son of a famous Beatles member, John Lennon.
History[]
He was originally a normal flea, living on Charles, a white furred proboscis monkey, in the garden of a botanist referred to as 'the professor', who made a variety of potions in his lab. Emile and Raoul accidentally smash two of the potion bottles (one causing a 'melodious voice', and the other causing rapid growth in size- the label of this potion says 'unstable' on the back), completely unaware that a small flea jumped off of Charles, and was caught right in the middle of the conflict. Francoeur instantly grew to a height of about 8 feet.
Emile was the first to see the 'monster' that they had created; after his scream Francoeur jumped through the roof of the large greenhouse, and disappeared into the night. As Francoeur traveled around Paris, jumping from roof to roof, he was met with many more blood-curdling screams, since everyone who saw him thought of him as a monster. He takes the black coat and hat, and the red scarf of one man who runs away from him and wears them, disguising his flea form.
Meanwhile, Inspector Pâté unravels the mystery of the giant flea, and the police begin to search as witness statements pile up. After Lucille turned down Albert's pleas for a career at the Rare Bird cabaret, he is leaving the establishment into the alleyway outside when he sees Francoeur, tries to get back into the Rare Bird by ringing the doorbell frantically, gives up, and runs away screaming over a fence.
Francoeur pulls on the doorbell several times, like he saw Albert doing, and a furious Lucille throws the door open, expecting to find Albert. The door throws Francoeur to the floor in the alleyway, among various litter and debris. Concerned, Lucille apologizes and asks if he's alright, but faints when he shows his face, which had been hidden behind his scarf. Francoeur catches her, but when she is roused by the rain on her face she slaps him and runs back into the Rare Bird, locking the door behind her. The rain falling on the various objects in the alleyway starts to make a tune, and Francoeur sings a song about his ordeal since he grew and became the monster of Paris.
One of the two potions that he came into contact with when he transformed gave him a beautiful singing voice, and Lucille is secretly watching, amazed. Touched by his song, Lucille asks him if he has a name. Since he only answers with a multitude of flea noises, she assumes not, and names him 'Francoeur', after the name of the alleyway they are in ('Passage Francoeur'), telling him that it means 'honest heart'. She invites him inside, where she disguises him in a white suit, mask, gloves, and hat, with a turquoise scarf and shirt, and smart black shoes. Francoeur pulls back his sleeve and notices that the large hairs on his arms are disappearing. Lucille hides him in her dressing room, where he learns that he is particularly talented at playing the guitar. He is quickly discovered by her aunt Carlotta, who cannot see through his disguise, and believes he is a human. She informs the band that accompany Lucille in her performances that Francoeur will join them, as his guitar music would be a perfect fit for Lucille's voice. Despite Lucille's attempts to get him off the stage, Francoeur ends up joining in with Lucille's performance, making her song 'La Seine' (referring to the river Seine) into a duet.
Raoul and Emile come to congratulate Lucille and Francoeur on their performance, but after shaking Francoeur's blue, hairy, three-fingered hands, they panic as they realize he's the monster. Lucille slaps them both, claiming he's no monster, and they quickly see the truth. Albert later informs Commissioner Maynott as to Francoeur's whereabouts, but Francoeur hides in a piano while the police search the Rare Bird. Lucille them hatches a plan to fake Francoeur's death, so that nobody would try to find him anymore. He pretends to capture Lucille during her performance of 'Papa Paris' at the opening of the new railway, and Emile and Raoul trick Commissioner Maynott into thinking that an exploding potion from the professor's lab is a shrinking potion or 'antidote' for the monster.
The police are unable to shoot Francoeur, as Maynott doesn't want them to hit Lucille. He instead throws the 'antidote' at Francoeur, and the small bottle promptly smashes and explodes, giving Francoeur a thick pink cloud of smoke to use for cover, as he disappears through the trap door. Raoul says that Francoeur has shrunk down to his normal flea size, and pretends to squash him under his foot. However, Inspector Pâté notices Francoeur's red scarf poking out from under the trap door, and Maynott attempts to shoot Francoeur, who turns around so the bullet bounces off of his shell. A chase follows, during which Francoeur noticeably gets weaker. Francoeur reaches the Eiffel Tower, where his lower arms disappear, and later the spikes on his back. He eventually collapses atop the Eiffel Tower. Emile attempts to defend the unconscious flea, but Maynott eventually shoots Francoeur, and is arrested by Inspector Pâté for 'the premeditated murder of Monsieur Francoeur', as Pâté finally realised that Francoeur was no monster. Francoeur's coat, hat, and scarf flutter down in the wind, Francoeur nowhere to be seen. Lucille, Raoul, Emile, Maude, and Charles grieve for him. Raoul convinces Lucille to perform at the Rare Bird in Francoeur's honor. During Lucille's performance, she freezes on stage due to her grief, but hears Francoeur singing in her ear, back at his normal flea size. She sings along with him in a duet of 'Just a little kiss', which Francoeur had earlier composed on the piano.
During the song, they get the professor to make them a stable potion, and change Francoeur back to his larger than life size, permanently.