Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)
Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.
- Michel Ocelot
- Michel Ocelot
- Michel Ocelot
Rating: 7.3/10 by 1090 users
Alternative Title:
Kirikú y la bruja - ES
女巫与叽里咕 - CN
Kirikou i czarodziejka - PL
키리쿠와 마녀 - KR
Kirikou & la Sorcière - FR
Kirikou & the Sorceress - US
Kirikou - FR
Kirikou and the Witch - US
Kirikú y la bruja - MX
Country:
France
Belgium
Luxembourg
Language:
Français
Runtime: 01 hour 11 minutes
Budget: $4,495,000
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: folk, power of goodness, folktale, bad witch, cultures of west africa, african tale, french
This is a really joyous animation to watch. A pregnant lady gives birth to a determined young infant who can immediately walk, talk and who names himself "Kirikou". Enthusiastic, questioning, innocent - he discovers that his village well has been stopped up by the evil sorceress "Karaba" and so decides to rectify the situation. His adventures are fun, simple - as is the animation - with plenty of humour from the dialogue, just the tiniest degree of menace and some interesting characterisations for our young man to engage with along the way. The film looks a little at the superstitions that guide this small West African community, but also at their people's synergies with nature - the whole collaborative way in which humans and other animals co-exist (or not). The themes are relayed cleverly using the naivety of a child's eyes - and that's frequently poignant, comical, amusing - and surprisingly practical. The young boy engages with the animal kingdom in a plausible way too - they don't speak, indeed frequently the collection of squirrels, wart-hogs and snakes react naturally when they encounter him - scoring away or taking him on. "Kirikou" is a can-do child! Sure, if he was your's you might have wanted to throttle him at birth - he is a tad precocious, but if this film doesn't make you smile and feel better, then I don't know what will....
