L’Illusionniste is based on a scenario written in 1956 by Jacques Tati, a French mime, actor and director. The script was conceived as a personal letter to his eldest daughter with whom he had a very difficult relationship. Tati died before he could make the movie and Sylvain Chomet, who directed Oscar-nominated animated movie The Triplets of Belleville, kept Tati’s original intention by staging a relationship between a struggling illusionist and a girl who is convinced he is a real magician.