Famed inventor, painter, and thinker Leonardo da Vinci (Stephen Fry) is chased from his home by pressure from Pope Leo X (Matt Berry) when another one of his interests – human dissection – is discovered.  He moves to France as King Francis I (Gauthier Battoue) is preparing a celebration where King Henry VIII (Daniel Swan) and King Charles (Max Baumgarten) will be in attendance.  To show the strength of his majesty, da Vinci is commissioned to carve a triumphant statue of Francis, but Marguerite (Daisy Ridley), the king’s sister, funnels funds away from her brother’s exploits and instead urges da Vinci to pursue the construction of “The Ideal City.” 

Jim Capobianco and Pierre-Luc Granjon direct from Capobianco’s script, The Inventor, a 100-minute animated feature that blends various art styles to tell the story of the ever-inquisitive Leonardo da Vinci.  With animation handled by Cartoon Saloon, the film debuted a test reel at the 2022 running of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and then premiered the film in competition the following year ahead of its theatrical release which was handled by Blue Fox Entertainment in the States.   

It is a pleasant little film that treats da Vinci with such respect and adoration, and Fry’s vocal performance perfectly matches the many expressions his character is animated with.  While the main story is about da Vinci’s work with Francis I, or more specifically his work with Marquerite and the pestering requests of Francis I, it also shows his pursuit of knowledge as it relates to the human body, the stars and planets, and art.  Because da Vinci is such a storied character of history, it is nearly impossible to synthesize his life simply, but The Inventor does a decent job of touching on many different points while still staying relatively focused on one or two major plot lines. 

An unwieldy script is something that continually holds The Inventor back at each new phase of the film.  Looking at it through the lens of younger audiences, it drags on without much excitement to keep engaged, and from the older lens, it does not drill down deep enough into any real aspect of the story to bring complexity to the narrative.  It is very loosely structured as if reading through the table of contents of a biography, but never breaching into the chapters.  What it lacks in depth of story, it makes up for in charm.  It is hard to comment on the songs as the sound mix really muddied the lyrics, but Alex Mandel’s score mixed imaginative whimsy with instrumental elements tied to the time and place of the story perfectly and helped bring a lively spirit to the screen.  From there, consider the nostalgia-inducing and very tangible Rankin-Bass inspired character design along with the more fantastic hand-drawn sequences that blend for a show-stopping finale, there is no denying the artistic merit, love, and care that went into crafting every single frame.