Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.
| Tagline | Can Kirikou save his village from a terrible curse? |
| Release Date: | Dec 09, 1998 |
| Genres: | Fantasy, Adventure, Animation, Family |
| Production Company: | Les Armateurs, Monipoly Productions, France 3 Cinéma, RTBF |
| Production Countries: | France, Belgium, Luxembourg |
| Casts: | Doudou Gueye Thiaw, Maimouna N'Diaye, Awa Sène Sarr, Robert Liensol, William Nadylam, Sebastien Hebrant, Thilombo Lubambu, Rémi Bichet, Marie Augustine Diatta, Moustapha Diop, Isseu Niang |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $4495000 |
| Revenue: | 0 |
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....
