Fans of ‘Amélie’ Will Love This Whimsical TV Show
Amélie is a 2001 movie that, for many redefines the romantic comedy genre. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the film won a slew of awards, including two British Film Academy Awards, and is still earning fans to this day.
For all of those who love Amélie, and want to expand their horizons with a new series or movie there are lots of other entertainment options available, including the hit series Pushing Daisies. While Pushing Daisies is no longer airing new episodes, the show is readily available on several streaming platforms and features a surprising connection to the hit French film Amélie.
What is ‘Amélie’ about?
Amélie tells the story of a shy waitress, portrayed by Audrey Tatou, who struggles with social isolation. The young girl decides to embark on a new journey, in an effort to change the lives of those around her and bring a little more joy to the world, and in doing so, she learns a great deal about herself.
While Tatou is the star of the film, supported by an incredible cast of actors, the cinematography itself is one of the shining stars, featuring odd, unusual camera angles and big, bold colors all throughout the film.
Right away, critics and viewers praised Amélie, giving props to the clever story and brilliant performances. Tatou, in particular, received a great deal of recognition, and in the years after the film’s release, she became a major star in French cinema.
These days, Amélie remains popular and is considered to be one of the greatest comedies ever made.
‘Pushing Daisies’ is a quirky comedy series
Six years after Amélie was released in France, a fantasy-comedy series called Pushing Daisies went on the air in the United States. The series featured a large cast of stars, including Lee Pace, Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene, and Anna Friel.
Pushing Daisies tells the story of a pie-maker named Ned, who discovers that he has the unique ability to bring people back from the dead with just the smallest touch. Often referred to as a “forensic fairy tale,” Pushing Daisies received a great deal of critical acclaim, and during the course of the series run, scored a staggering seventeen Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning seven of them.
Although it went off the air in 2009, only two years after it made its debut, fans still love to binge-watch the series, and many have been calling for Pushing Daisies to eventually get some sort of series reboot.
Why would fans of ‘Amélie’ love ‘Pushing Daisies’?
Fans of quirky, out-there cinema, and especially those who love Amélie, would do well to watch Pushing Daisies. Not only does the series feature a lot of the same eccentric humor as the French movie does, but it actually shares a surprising connection to Amélie that might surprise many viewers.
According to a report by Mental Floss, showrunners for Pushing Daisies took direct inspiration from the film when they started crafting the plan for the cinematography. Cinematographer Michael Weaver recounted that Barry Sonnenfeld, along with other showrunners, wanted to make Pushing Daisies to look “somewhere between Amélie and a Tim Burton film—something big, bright, and bigger than life.”
Additionally, the music composer for Pushing Daisies, music composer and arranger Jim Dooley described the music that he wrote for the series as “having an Amélie type of sound.” Clearly, fans of Amélie can find a lot to love in Pushing Daisies, even if the movie and the series seem to be very different on the surface.
