Un indien dans la ville
Encyclopedia
Un indien dans la ville (An Indian
in the city) is a 1994
French
film by Hervé Palud. The film had a limited English language
release under the title Little Indian, Big City.
Part of the movie was shot in Miami, Florida
, United States.
It was later adapted for an American audience under the title Jungle 2 Jungle
, set in Manhattan
and starring Tim Allen
and Martin Short
.
, wants a divorce from his wife Patricia to marry another woman: Charlotte. However, Patricia has been living among the Venezuela
n Amazonas Indians for the past 13 years, so Steph travels to the Indian village to meet her and ask her to sign the divorce papers.
When they meet, Patricia tells Steph that they have a teenage son, Mimi-Siku, who has been raised as an Amazonas Indian. Patricia tells Steph she will not sign the divorce papers unless Steph takes Mimi-Siku on a visit to Paris, which he agrees to. In Paris, Mimi-Siku meets the children of Steph's colleague Richard and falls in love with his daughter Sophie.
label as they felt this film had some mature themes for an ordinary Disney film.
As opposed to releasing it in the United States with subtitles leaving the original French dialogue in, Disney hired many cartoon voice-over actors to dub the original French dialogue out and substitute it with an English language format. They also gave the film an American name Little Indian, Big City. Under its new Americanized title and language dubbing, Touchstone finally released it to a select American audience on March 22, 1996.
Upon its original American release many American critics reacted exceedingly harsh to the film. Roger Ebert
awarded Little Indian, Big City a rare "Zero Stars" rating claiming that he was annoyed by the awful dubbing as well as the writing and terrible humor. He ended his original Chicago Sun Times newspaper review by saying "If you under any circumstances see Little Indian, Big City I will never let you read one of my reviews again". Ebert's colleague Gene Siskel
also deplored the film saying that it was likely to be a candidate for the year's (or any year's) worst film. He also said that if the word for the film got big enough in the United States family audiences would have been "hoodwinked into paying to see a totally unprofessional movie." When Siskel and Ebert viewed the film during its original theatrical release, one of the film reels broke out and the third reel of film was missing. A film executive informed Siskel and Ebert that they were allowed to come back the following week from their original viewing date and view the rest of the film that they missed. Siskel and Ebert came back to view the third reel regrettably, and by the time they had concluded viewing the whole film Siskel was quoted saying "If the missing third reel was footage from Orson Welles
's The Magnificent Ambersons
, this film still would have sucked." Both Siskel and Ebert later went on to claim this as one of the worst motion pictures they had ever seen, and in January 1997 on Siskel and Ebert's "Worst of the Year" program for 1996 Ebert went on to call "Little Indian, Big City" the second worst film of the year, just behind Mad Dog Time
.
The film also flopped during its American release grossing under $
1,000,000 domestically. It was later released on home video under the VHS format in early 1997 and was re-issued one other time on VHS in mid-1998. The film has not been released on DVD or any other video formats in the United States.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
in the city) is a 1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film by Hervé Palud. The film had a limited English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
release under the title Little Indian, Big City.
Part of the movie was shot in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States.
It was later adapted for an American audience under the title Jungle 2 Jungle
Jungle 2 Jungle
Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 comedy feature film starring Tim Allen, Martin Short and Sam Huntington. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville . Jungle 2 Jungles plot follows the original film fairly closely...
, set in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and starring Tim Allen
Tim Allen
Tim Allen is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his role in the sitcom Home Improvement...
and Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
.
Plot summary
Steph, a broker living in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, wants a divorce from his wife Patricia to marry another woman: Charlotte. However, Patricia has been living among the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n Amazonas Indians for the past 13 years, so Steph travels to the Indian village to meet her and ask her to sign the divorce papers.
When they meet, Patricia tells Steph that they have a teenage son, Mimi-Siku, who has been raised as an Amazonas Indian. Patricia tells Steph she will not sign the divorce papers unless Steph takes Mimi-Siku on a visit to Paris, which he agrees to. In Paris, Mimi-Siku meets the children of Steph's colleague Richard and falls in love with his daughter Sophie.
U.S. release and reception
Shortly after its release in France in December 1994, Disney saw this film as a possibility to attract a family audience in the United States and considered giving it a limited release in select cities. Before releasing it in select cities Disney decided to release it under their Touchstone PicturesTouchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
label as they felt this film had some mature themes for an ordinary Disney film.
As opposed to releasing it in the United States with subtitles leaving the original French dialogue in, Disney hired many cartoon voice-over actors to dub the original French dialogue out and substitute it with an English language format. They also gave the film an American name Little Indian, Big City. Under its new Americanized title and language dubbing, Touchstone finally released it to a select American audience on March 22, 1996.
Upon its original American release many American critics reacted exceedingly harsh to the film. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded Little Indian, Big City a rare "Zero Stars" rating claiming that he was annoyed by the awful dubbing as well as the writing and terrible humor. He ended his original Chicago Sun Times newspaper review by saying "If you under any circumstances see Little Indian, Big City I will never let you read one of my reviews again". Ebert's colleague Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
also deplored the film saying that it was likely to be a candidate for the year's (or any year's) worst film. He also said that if the word for the film got big enough in the United States family audiences would have been "hoodwinked into paying to see a totally unprofessional movie." When Siskel and Ebert viewed the film during its original theatrical release, one of the film reels broke out and the third reel of film was missing. A film executive informed Siskel and Ebert that they were allowed to come back the following week from their original viewing date and view the rest of the film that they missed. Siskel and Ebert came back to view the third reel regrettably, and by the time they had concluded viewing the whole film Siskel was quoted saying "If the missing third reel was footage from Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
's The Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington which won the 1919 Pulitzer Prize for novel. It was the second novel in his Growth trilogy, which included The Turmoil and The Midlander . In 1925 the novel was first adapted for film under the title Pampered Youth...
, this film still would have sucked." Both Siskel and Ebert later went on to claim this as one of the worst motion pictures they had ever seen, and in January 1997 on Siskel and Ebert's "Worst of the Year" program for 1996 Ebert went on to call "Little Indian, Big City" the second worst film of the year, just behind Mad Dog Time
Mad Dog Time
Mad Dog Time is a 1996 ensemble cast crime film written and directed by Larry Bishop, released through United Artists...
.
The film also flopped during its American release grossing under $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,000,000 domestically. It was later released on home video under the VHS format in early 1997 and was re-issued one other time on VHS in mid-1998. The film has not been released on DVD or any other video formats in the United States.
Cast
- Thierry LhermitteThierry LhermitteThierry Lhermitte is a French actor, known for his comedic roles. He was one of the founders of the comedy troupe Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot, and Michel Blanc...
as Stéphane Marchadot - Patrick TimsitPatrick TimsitPatrick Timsit is a French comedian, writer and film director. He has been nominated for 4 César Awards, three times as an actor and once as a writer...
as Richard Montignac - Ludwig BriandLudwig BriandLudwig Briand is a French actor born on 9 May 1981 at Soisy-sous-Montmorency. Named after Ludwig van Beethoven, he got his first acting job in 1991 at the age of ten as Gavroche in the stage musical Les Misérables. Then another musical Paul And Virginie as Paul...
as Mimi-Siku - Miou-MiouMiou-MiouMiou-Miou is a French actress. In her career she has worked with a number of international directors, including Michel Gondry, Bertrand Blier, Yves Boisset, Claude Berri, Jacques Deray, Michel Deville, Diane Kurys, Radu Mihăileanu, Patrice Leconte, Joseph Losey and Louis Malle.-Career:She was born...
as Patricia Marchadot - Arielle DombasleArielle DombasleArielle Dombasle is a French-American singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough roles were in Éric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach and Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Blue Villa...
as Charlotte - Tolsty as Pavel
- Sonia Vollereaux as Marie
- Jackie Berroyer as Maître Joanovici
- Marc de Jonge as Rossberg
- Louba Guertchikoff as Mrs. Godette
- Philippe Bruneau as Mr. Maréchal
- Dominique Besnehard as Maître Dong
- Cheik Doukouré as Mr. Bonaventure
- Marie-Charlotte Leclaire as Rossberg's Secretary
- Olga Jirouskova as Sonia Koutchnoukov
- Chick Ortega as Russian
- Paco Portero as The Snake Man
- Sonia Lezinska as Stewardess
- Marc Brunet as Policeman
- Olivier Hémon as Policeman
- Thierry Desroses as Customs Officer
- Katja Weitzenböck as Miss Van Hodden
- Pauline Pinsolle as Sophie Montignac
- Stanley Zana as Jonathan
- Gaston Dolle as Benjamin