Synopsis

Ten-year-old Arthur learns that his grandfather's house is threatened with demolition and searches for a hidden treasure that may solve the family's problems. Using a magical passage, he enters the miniature world of the Minimoys, where he becomes tiny himself and joins Princess Selene and her brother Betameche. Together, they face danger while trying to find the treasure and protect their kingdom.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts the first two books in the Arthur children's series created by Luc Besson and his collaborators.

• Although the Minimoy world is computer animated, the story begins and ends with live-action sequences. Those scenes were filmed in La Trinite-des-Laitiers in the Orne region of France.

• Animation work involved approximately 225 people at a production site in Pantin, and many of them were working in feature-film animation for the first time.

• The 3D sequences reportedly required 27 months of production, around 20 million calculated images, and approximately 60,000 working days.

• The original French and English version ran about 103 minutes. The American-British release, retitled "Arthur and the Invisibles," was shortened to 94 minutes and substantially re-edited.

• Several elements removed from the shorter release included parts of Arthur and Selenia's romantic storyline, some suggestive jokes, and selected live-action scenes.

• The sacred sword that Arthur pulls from a stone echoes the legendary Sword in the Stone associated with King Arthur.

• The film's production budget was reported at approximately 65 million euros, making it one of the more ambitious French animation projects of its period.

• A video game tie-in was released in Europe in 2006 for PlayStation 2, PC, and Nintendo DS.