Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure

Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure
French theatrical release poster
Directed byDominique Monféry
Written byJohn van Bruggen
Based onFranklin the Turtle by Paulette Bourgeois
Brenda Clark
Produced byCynthia Taylor
StarringLouise Cheka
Ariane Aggiage
Ivanah Coppola
Isabelle Volpe
Doug Murray
Kevin Sommier
Edited byPatrick Gonidec
Music byRay Parker
Tom Szczesniak
Production
companies
Distributed byMars Distribution
Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • September 6, 2006 (2006-09-06) (Canada)
  • December 20, 2006 (2006-12-20) (France)
Running time
85 minutes
CountriesCanada
France
LanguagesEnglish
French
Box office$4.1 million

Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure (Franklin et le trésor du lac in France and Benjamin et le Trésor du lac in Canadian French) is a children's animated adventure drama film based on the TV series Franklin. The first Franklin film shown in theaters in Canada and France, it was the last production in the Franklin series to be traditionally animated. The film was written by John van Bruggen and directed by Dominique Monféry. According to van Bruggen, the film takes Franklin on "a much greater adventure than any of the past Franklin films, including Franklin and the Green Knight." The film's runtime stands at 85 minutes, making it the longest film of the series.

The film centers around Franklin's granny falling ill during a visit from Franklin's Aunt Lucy, an archaeologist. Aunt Lucy knows about a special talisman that may cure the illness and joins Franklin on a quest to find it, with his friends Bear, Beaver and Snail. They are also accompanied by Aunt Lucy's goddaughter, Samantha (Sam), whose personality clashes with Franklin's.

The film, released direct-to-video on September 6, 2006 and in the United States by HBO, occasionally aired on the Nick Jr. Channel since then. The film was distributed by Mars Distribution; StudioCanal distributed the film internationally, whilst Universal Pictures distributed it in at least one country. The working titles for the film were Franklin and the Secret Talisman and Franklin and Granny's Secret.

The film served as the series finale of the 1997 series, since no new episodes were produced after its release. It was Patricia Gage's final performance before her death in 2010.