Kirikou et la sorcière (1998)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Michel Ocelot

Writer:

Michel Ocelot (writer)

Release Date:

18 helmikuu 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family

Tagline:

Can Kirikou save his village from a terrible curse?

Plot:

In a little village somewhere in Africa, a boy named Kirikou is born. But he's not a normal boy, because he knows what he wants very well...

Plot Keywords:

Village | Sorceress | Africa | Warrior | Fetishism

Awards:

11 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Doudou Gueye Thiaw	...	Kirikou enfant (voice)
Maimouna N'Diaye	...	La Mère (voice)
Awa Sene Sarr	...	Karaba (voice) (as Awa Sène Sarr)
Robert Liensol	...	Le Sage dans la montagne (voice) (as Robert Lionsol)
William Nadylam	...	Kirikou jeune homme (voice) (as William Nadylam-Yotnda)
Sebastien Hebrant	...	Kirikou jeune homme (voice) (as Sébastien Hébrant)
Thilombo Lubambu	...	L'Oncle (voice) (as Tshilombo Lubambu)
Marie Augustine Diatta	...	La Femme forte (voice)
Moustapha Diop	...	Fétiche sur le toît (voice) (as Mouhamadou Moustapha Diop)
Isseu Niang	...	La Femme maigre (voice)
Selly Raby Kane	...	La Grande Fille (voice)
Erick Patrick Correa	...	Le Grand Garçon (voice)
Adjoua Barry	...	La Fille moyenne (voice)
Charles Edouard Gomis Correa	...	Le Garçon moyen (voice)
Marie-Louise Shedeye Diiddi	...	La Petite Fille (voice)

Also Known As:

Kirikou and the Sorceress (USA)
Kirikou en de heks (Belgium: Flemish title) (TV title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Luxembourg

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:G | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-7/5 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U

Company:

Les Armateurs

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Michel Ocelot] [silhouettes] In one scene Kirikou's mother is seen as a solid black silhouette backlit by fire; later in the film, Kirikou himself, for the entirety of the underground tunnel scenes, is rendered as a black silhouette with only the whites of his eyes and teeth showing.

Quotes:

Village Boy: [sees a beautiful tree standing on its own] Look at that tree! I've never seen anything like it.
Kirikou: Then don't go near it! It may be a trap from the sorceress.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages (2005)

Soundtrack:

Kirikou

Rich movie in color and in story

Kirikou and The Sorceress is a story of a very small but extremely brave boy, Kirikou, born in a little village somewhere in Africa. Kirikou can walk and talk already when he is born and he starts to set things right in his village. He is very determined and always finds a solution, whatever the problem is. There is an evil sorceress, Karaba, who is tormenting Kirikou's village. She has to be bribed and soothed constantly, she has dried the well and she threatened she will eat all the men from the village... and there are not many of them left. Brave warriors have vanished, possibly have been devoured by the witch, when they tried to fight him. Little Kirikou decides it is not wise to fight Karaba, but to negotiate with her. One day Kirikou walks to the hut of the sorceress...

Extremely beautiful, thrilling story, told in brilliant tones of color and folklore. Very down-to-earth and descriptive by the ways of African life: women naked above the waist, carrying water from long distances, making food, the village elders passing on the stories to the younger ones. My seven year old son, who is used to see the usual smoothed-out, big money animations, was hesitating at first when I showed him the movie. He said the cover looked "funny" and different, and it does. When the movie started, he couldn't stop watching it, he was totally captivated by the story and I enjoyed it very much as well. Excellent story, great animation, rich colors, folklore mixed with everyday life and superstition, great original music by Youssou N'Dour. Highly recommendable. Choose this over any talking funny animals-video.