The main character is a version of Tati animated by several people under the lead of Laurent Kircher. The plot revolves around a struggling illusionist who visits an isolated community and meets a young lady who is convinced that he is a real magician. Originally intended by Tati to be set in Czechoslovakia, Chomet relocated the film to Scotland in the late 1950s. According to the director, "It's not a romance, it's more the relationship between a dad and a daughter." Sony's US press kit declares that the "script for "The Illusionist" was originally written by French comedy genius and cinema legend Jacques Tati as a love letter from a father to his daughter, but never produced". The film received critical acclaim from critics, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, losing to Pixar's "Toy Story 3".