Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)
Overview
Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.
Cast
Doudou Gueye Thiaw
Kirikou enfant (voice)
Maimouna N'Diaye
La Mère (voice)
Awa Sène Sarr
Karaba (voice)
Robert Liensol
Le Sage dans la montagne (voice)
William Nadylam
Kirikou jeune homme (voice)
Sebastien Hebrant
Kirikou jeune homme (voice)
Rémi Bichet
Kirikou adulte
Moustapha Diop
Le fétiche sur le toit
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CinemaSerf
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....
