PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com "We Put the SIN in Cinema" ©Copyright 2000 Planet Sick-Boy. All Rights Reserved.
If you're tired of the crappy children's films that Hollywood keeps cramming down your throat, check out these two gems from French filmmaker Michel Ocelot - the most happening animator this side of Nick Park and Aardman Studios (Chicken Run). Ocelot's films are uniquely animated and offer stories fresh enough to make the typical Disney film seem like two-week-old bread.
Ocelot first became recognized in 1999 with a film called Kirikou and the Sorceress, a wonderful adaptation of an African folktale. You know Kirikou isn't the typical kiddie pic from its first scene, which depicts a pregnant woman hearing her unborn child shout, "Mother - bring me into the world!" Before you know it, the infant has bolted out of his mother's womb, cut his own umbilical cord and begins to run around, announcing to everyone within earshot that he is Kirikou.
But Kirikou quickly finds out that life on the outside isn't all it's cracked up to be. His father and most of his uncles have been eaten trying to battle an evil sorceress and her robotic henchmen. Despite the sorceress' winning streak, Kirikou's last remaining uncle is on his way to try his luck at knocking her block off. Little Kirikou tags along and is mistaken for a magic hat.
A battle ensues between the sorceress and Kirikou's village, with the wicked woman setting various traps to capture the village's children. She's a crafty sorceress, using a magic boat, a malevolent tree and a wild boar (a la Princess Mononoke).
Although Kirikou plays well with most adults, it may not be a film for your kids if you're concerned about cartoon nudity. All of the female characters are topless, and most boast an impressive, perky D-cup. At times, Kirikou looks like Howard Stern's dream come true as opposed to a children's film, but if you're willing to overlook that very minor problem, you'll find a gem of a film with important lessons that the whole family will enjoy.
Ocelot's latest film - Princes and Princesses - offers more of the same distinctive animation, but divides itself into six different sections, which are held together with an interesting narrative. Two children and an adult sit in a dark studio and dream up ideas to turn into animated shorts (there's no evidence confirming Ocelot developed his ideas in a similar manner). The three characters are silhouetted and use crazy, magical equipment to develop their simple ideas into grand spectacles.
Each segment is set in a different time and place in history and, as the title suggests, contains either a prince, a princess, or both. The stories, which are completely different and unrelated to each other, are repetitive, like a children's book, and involve Egyptian fig trees, 19th century Japanese coats and humans turning into ants. There's even a funny intermission about halfway through Princes that tells the audience to take "a one-minute break to talk things over." And each is packed full of Ocelot's distinctive animation and thought-provoking morals, which will thrill viewers of all ages.
Kirikou – 1:17 – Not rated, but includes a lot of cartoon boob action Princes – 1:10 – Not Rated, and contains no objectionable material
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews