I saw two amazing animated films last summer. One was Pixar's Wall-E, and the other was Michael Ocelot's Kirikou and the Sorceress, "Kirikou et la Sorcière" in its original French. They could not have been more different from each other, but they could not have been more charming. But since you've likely already heard of Wall-E, I'm going to focus on Kirikou.
The basic story of Kirikou and the Sorceress focuses around a boy (the titular Kirikou) born into a village living in fear of the wicked sorceress Karaba, who has eaten nearly all the men, dried up the village spring, and is now targeting the children. Ultimately, Kirikou leaves on a quest to meet his grandfather (a wise old man who apparently knows everything) and discover what it is that makes Karaba wicked.
Kirikou, the main character, is definitely one of the most charming parts of this movie. Born unnaturally independent (he crawls out on his own, removes his own umbilical cord, and even names himself), Kirikou isn't five minutes old before he sets off to help the villagers. Unfortunately for him, he is still newborn-sized, and watching him interact with a much-larger environment brought a huge smile to my face. His personality is another thing to note: he is highly inquisitive, always asking questions before taking action (indeed, his quest isn't to destroy the sorceress, but to understand why she is wicked). This is a distinctive contrast to many of the villagers, who are brash and headstrong.
The animation style is also something to note. In an age so heavily-populated by three-dimensional animated movies that are all style and no substance, Kirikou's flat, two-dimensional style definitely sticks out. Let's not confuse two-dimensional with primitive, however--the vivid backgrounds of African flora and scenery are breathtaking, each flower based directly on a real-life counterpart.
The plants aren't the only part of African nature that get their say: Kirikou interacts with several different animal species on his journey, each accompanied by their own musical score (a dangerous-sounding flute for a vicious zorilla, a cheerful harp for playful ground squirrels, etc). Ocelot portrays the animals naturally, not falling into the Disney trap of turning animals into overly-cute talking sidekicks. That's not to say the film isn't without its cute moments. A scene where Kirikou is swarmed by grateful ground squirrels elicited some affected "aaaws" from the girlfriends I watched this with.
Unfortunately, the film was not without its share of controversy, mostly focused around Ocelot's authentic African portrayal of natural nudity. Some distributors demanded that bras be airbrushed onto the woman, and clothing onto the children, which Ocelot deftly refused. As a result of this, it is still a bit difficult to find outside of its native Africa.
The bottom line: Kirikou is a great animated family film, with an interesting storyline, an exotic flavour, and an adorable main character with a heart of gold. However, for conservative parents who would rather their children not know about breasts, I'll recommend something by Disney instead.
