Kirikou and the Sorceress
| Kirikou and the Sorceress | |
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Original French film poster
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| Directed by | Michel Ocelot |
| Produced by | Didier Brunner |
| Written by | Michel Ocelot |
| Music by | Youssou N'Dour |
| Edited by | Dominique Lefevre |
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| Distributed by | Gébéka Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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71 minutes |
| Country | France Belgium Luxembourg |
| Language | French |
| Budget | 3,800,000 € |
Kirikou and the Sorceress (French: Kirikou et la Sorcière) is a 1998 traditional animation feature film written and directed by Michel Ocelot. Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba. The film was originally released on December 9, 1998. It is a co-production between companies in France (Exposure, France 3 Cinema, Les Armateurs, Monipoly, Odec Kid Cartoons), Belgium (Radio-Télévision belge) and Luxembourg (Studio O, Trans Europe Film) and animated at Rija Films' studio in Latvia and Studio Exist in Hungary.
It was so successful that it was followed by Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages, released in 2005, and adapted into a stage musical, Kirikou et Karaba, first performed in 2007. Another followup, Kirikou et les hommes et les femmes, was released in late 2012.
In a little village somewhere in West Africa, a boy named Kirikou is born in a spectacular way. But he's not a normal boy, since he can speak and walk immediately after being born. He is also very determined. His mother tells him that an evil sorceress has dried up their spring and devoured all the males of the village except for one. Hence the tiny Kirikou decides to accompany the last warrior, his uncle, to visit the sorceress. Kirikou tricks the sorceress and saves his uncle, by waiting inside his uncle's hat, and pretending that it was magic. He saved the children from being kidnapped by the sorceress' boat, which sped off towards Karaba, and saved them later again from the sorceress' tree, which closed it branches around the children, and once again sped off towards Karaba. Next, he bursts the monster who was drinking all the village's water. He then travels to ask his wise old grandfather about the sorceress, and faces many obstacles in the process. The grandfather finds that Kirikou is always asking questions, which is a good thing. The grandfather tells him that she is evil because she suffers: bad men put a poisoned thorn in her back. On the way to Karaba, Kirikou makes friends, who each in turn, give him presents, after he saves them from the skunk. Kirikou manages to trick the sorceress and removes the thorn, he also manages to take the gold, and return it to the rightful owners. The sorceress is cured. She kisses Kirikou and he becomes an adult. Love reigns. When they arrive back at the village, no one believes that the sorceress is cured, and only do they believe Kirikou when a procession of drummers arrive. It turns out Karaba did not eat the men, just turned them into watchmen, and other obedient objects.
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