A young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere.

In the south of France, in a vast plain region called the Camargue, lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, as the two go looking for the freedom that the world of men won’t allow them.

Pascal Lamorisse is the son of filmmaker Albert Lamorisse. He is also the little hero of some of his father's films (White Mane, The Red Balloon and Stowaway in the Sky). Over the years, Albert Lamorisse, who took his son on all his shoots, sought to transmit his expertise and his passion for filmmaking, even on his last film, The Lover's Wind. There is something in the story of Pascal Lamorisse that touches on a fabulous story: it is the story of the transmission of cinema from father to child.

Philippe Avron plays a bumbling burglar whose crime career is a textbook case of failure. One evening, Avron comes upon an abandoned nightgown. Upon donning the garment, he feels he has been transformed into an angel. Avron then joins a strange circus, whence he hopes to dispense goodwill to the other misfits of the world. As with the other works of director Albert Lamorisse (The Red Balloon) Lamorisse, it is virtually impossible to determine where reality leaves off and fantasy takes over in Circus Angel, a fact that was instrumental in the film's winning a "Best Special Effects" award at the Cannes Film Festival.

A small child, fascinated by a lighter-than-air balloon, clambers aboard. The balloon takes flight, lifting the child upward to an amazing adventure. The land-bound adults have conniptions as the balloon wafts by; the child has nothing more than a great time.