New animated film depicting Edinburgh in the 50s hailed as a masterpiece

The movie, The Illusionist, was created by Sylvain Chomet, the French Oscar-nominated filmmaker, who set up a studio in the heart of Edinburgh after falling in love with the city while at the Capital's film festival in 2003. He moved with wife Sally to North Berwick, while his studio Django Films, was set up in the New Town with the past few years being spent working on The Illusionist, which has been adapted from an unproduced script by legendary French actor and director Jacques Tati.

But now it appears his celluloid love song is also something of a swansong – as the George Street studio is currently being shut down and Chomet himself is in France.

The film's Scottish producer, Bob Last, speaking from Berlin, explains: "We built the studio to make this film – currently it is being dismantled.

"It would be wrong to say it's being moved to France – it was set up for this film and it is now ceasing to exist."

Last adds that it is "unsure" where Chomet personally will be based in the future, although he is currently in France – and points out that previously he was settled in Montreal in Canada where he made Belleville Rendez-Vous, his last feature which was nominated for an Oscar. "We shall see," he says.

But he says whatever the future for Chomet, his legacy to Scotland will be a massive boost to the burgeoning animation industry. "I think The Illusionist is the biggest local spend on film making there has ever been here," Last says. The budget was in excess of 10 million, with at its peak, 75 people working on the project in Edinburgh with a handful more in Dundee, where Last's studio, Ink.digital, is based.

And the film itself will be a lasting testimony to Chomet's affection for the city.

The director has previously said of Edinburgh: "I fell in love with Edinburgh when I presented Belleville Rendez-Vous there. I found the city a magical place – there's something about the constantly changing light."

In fact, The Illusionist was originally set in Prague – the script was penned by France's equivalent of Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Tati, and Chomet was given permission to adapt it by Tati's daughter, Sophie Tatischeff, who died before she could see the completed project.

Chomet's adaptation, using hand-drawn 2-D, inspired by such classics as Disney's 1960s film One Hundred and One Dalmations, saw the location move from the Czech capital to the Scottish one.

The film tells the tale of a French conjuror, the illusionist of the title, who is struggling to find work in 1950s Paris, as his public desert him for the new-fangled rock 'n' roll. He accepts a gig on a Scottish island, Iona, which has only just got electricity, where he falls for a local girl, and together they travel to Edinburgh. "The big ending of the film takes place on Arthur's Seat," says Last.

The Illusionist received its premiere at Berlin on Tuesday night, where its gentle charm enchanted critics. Trade bible Variety called it "delightful" and "thrilling". Its critic went on to say: "The Illusionist is . . a love letter to Scotland and Edinburgh in particular. Attention is paid to the city's geography and quaint-Gothic feel, to its muted, creamy light, and to the Scots' humour and good cheer. Outside Gaul, Scotland should be the film's most enthusiastic market."

And there is little doubt the film's creators paid great attention to the finer detail.

Ros Davis, film commissioner at Edinburgh Film Focus which assisted the studio, explains that even a shot of a period Edinburgh bus took strenuous amounts of research.

"You would think just a picture of a bus from the 1950s would help them draw one, but they needed to know what a bus looked like from above.

"In the end they managed to get the original manufacturers for buses for that period. It is extraordinary the lengths they went to to get the fine details of the background right."

And while she admits losing Chomet's studio is a blow – "obviously – he is an Oscar-nominated animator" – she says the studio's presence in the Capital over the last five years has been a boost in several ways.

"It's been like having a film production company coming into town – but for five years rather than six weeks."

Along with the spending boost that has provided, it has also enhanced the city's growing reputation for animation excellence – there are nine such companies, including Red Kite and Ko Lik, employing around 75 people in the Capital.

"I think Django Films has played a major part in Edinburgh gaining a reputation as a centre for animation," says Ros. "And I think that reputation will stay."

As for Last, who is also Chairman for Cultural Enterprise Office and former manager of 80s pop bands such as Human League, ABC, Scritti Politti and Heaven 17, he says the whole team are delighted at the "positive response" the film has received in Berlin. But those who are keen to see Chomet's take on Edinburgh will have to wait a little longer. "It will go on general release most likely at the end of the summer in France and the UK," he says.

And the hope is Chomet's most lasting legacy to the city will be showcasing its beauty to other filmmakers and audiences worldwise. As Ros says: "It's like an animated calling card for Edinburgh."