Kirikou and the Sorceress

Kirikou and the Sorceress

18/2/2000 1h 11m 7.3/10

Overview

Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.

Director

Michel Ocelot

Top Billed Cast

Robert Liensol

Robert Liensol

Le Sage dans la montagne (voice)

William Nadylam

William Nadylam

Kirikou jeune homme (voice)

Awa Sène Sarr

Awa Sène Sarr

Karaba (voice)

Sebastien Hebrant

Sebastien Hebrant

Kirikou jeune homme (voice)

Doudou Gueye Thiaw

Doudou Gueye Thiaw

Kirikou enfant (voice)

Maimouna N'Diaye

Maimouna N'Diaye

La Mère (voice)

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

8/28/2023

7/10

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....

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