TORONTO — Nearly 30 years after debuting in a francophone book series, Canadian preschool TV stars Toopy and Binoo leap to the big screen with their first animated feature.
By chance, the long-gestating project from Quebec author Dominique Jolin opens the same day her daughter turns 23, and the gregarious writer-turned-director jokes that this Friday’s premiere will celebrate two “babies.”
However, her maternal perspective runs deeper than that – the candid Jolin says she created Toopy and Binoo (Toupie et Binou in French) in 1994 because she longed for a child and thought that writing a children’s book would give her a chance to participate inthe nightly storytime rituals common to many families.
“I wanted so much to have a kid. I was dying to have a baby. I wanted to be part of a family in their home, their bedtime, so I created little ones to be with families,” an effusive Jolin says during a recent video call, joined by line producer Janice Metzger who provided the occasional translation.
In 2005, Jolin’s guileless wide-eyed creations – an impetuous mouse named Toopy and his more sensible feline pal Binoo – leapt from the page to the small screen with a TV series that aired on Treehouse and Télé-Québec.
Metzger says they last shot new episodes in the late aughts, although episodes continued to air for a decade longer and continue on streaming.
The idea for a film version began seven years ago, says co-director and co-writer Raymond Lebrun. Most of that time was spent cobbling together financing, while production took about 2 1/2 years, he says.
In “Toopy and Binoo the Movie,” the best friends make their way to a magical land in search of Binoo’s missing stuffie, Patchy-Patch, and meet an assortment of good-natured oddballs along the way.
They include a princess horse with an abrasive personality and little tolerance for Toopy’s whimsy, who Jolin says was crafted to counter sexist tropes while providing a stern foil to Toopy and Binoo’s flighty leanings.
“The princess represents, in a way, the public — the adult that doesn't understand (Toopy and Binoo),” says Jolin, a dynamic speaker who gesticulates freely and tosses her ginger tresses as she speaks.
Meanwhile, a pair of seagulls – one slim, the other large – claim to be identical twins but couldn’t be more different, she notes.
"They tell us that they are identical but they are not. But their heart is. That's why they are saying this,” explains Jolin, who co-wrote and co-directs the film with Lebrun.
Of course, the spirited Jolin says she identifies most with the silly but sweet-natured Toopy and Binoo, insisting she is “like a four-year-old kid” — emotional and at times overwhelmed.
"Some people don't understand Toopy and they find him annoying because he talks a lot and the way he is. And then there's other people who are more sensitive to him," says Metzger, translating a burst of French from Jolin.
Toopy may appear foolish and naive, but Jolin says his message is enduring and universal: kindness, respect and politeness towards others.
"All he wants is to be loved," Jolin says.
“Toopy and Binoo the Movie” opens Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2023.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
