Kirikou and the Sorceress

In a little West African village, a precocious little boy named Kirikou is born in an unusual way. Since he can speak and walk immediately after being born, it's immediately apparent that he's not a normal baby. After Kirikou's mother tells him that an evil sorceress, Karaba, has dried up their spring and devoured all the males of the village except for one, he decides to accompany the last warrior, his uncle, to visit her. Kirikou manages to trick the sorceress and save his uncle by waiting inside his uncle's hat and pretending that it's magic. Additionally, he saves the village's children from being kidnapped both by the sorceress's boat and tree, and bursts the monster who was drinking all the village's water, gaining trust and stature in the eyes of the villagers who were at first skeptical of Kirikou. With the help of his mother and various animals, Kirikou then evades Karaba's watchman to travel into the forbidden mountain to ask his wise old grandfather about the sorceress, who tells him that she is evil because she suffers from a poisoned thorn in her back, which causes her great pain and also gives her great power. After learning this, Kirikou manages to take the sorceress's stolen gold, thus luring her outside to where he can trick her and extract the poisoned thorn. As a result, the sorceress is cured of her suffering, and she kisses Kirikou, who then becomes an adult. When Kirikou and Karaba arrive back at the village, no one believes that the sorceress is cured until a procession of drummers arrive with Kirikou's grandfather. The drummers turn out to be the sorceress's watchmen and henchmen restored to their original human form, the missing men of the village, whom she hadn't eaten after all.

The film is a co-production of Les Armateurs, Trans Europe Film, Studio O, France 3 cinéma, RTBF and Exposure in France, Odec Kid Cartoons in Belgium and Monipoly in Luxembourg.[1] It was animated at Rija Films' animation studio in Latvia and Studio Exist in Hungary, with backgrounds painted at Les Armateurs and Paul Thiltges' animation studio, Tiramisu, in Luxembourg, digital ink and paint and compositing by Les Armateurs and Odec Kid Cartoons in Belgium and voices and music recorded in Senegal.[8]

The original French voice acting was performed by a cast of West African actors and schoolchildren and recorded in Dakar. The English dubbing, also directed by Ocelot, was made in South Africa.[3] A dub of the film in the Swahili language was produced in Tanzania in 2009 through the help of the Danish Film Institute (DFI) and John Riber of Media for Development in Dar es Salaam.[9]

The film contains many instances of nudity that reflect the less sexualized view of the human body in the West African culture depicted. This was controversial enough in the U.S. and the U.K. to prevent its release.[10][11][12] Eventually, the British Film Institute gave the film a few screenings in the U.K., and in the U.S. specialist distributor Artmattan released it to a small but appreciative African-American audience.[10][12]

The film has been licensed by distributors in numerous countries, including:

• Argentina – Prodifilms
• Brazil – Cult Filmes (VHS), Paulinas Multimídia (DVD)
• Canada – Remstar Distribution
• Denmark – Angel Films A/S
• France – Gébéka Films
• Germany – MFA Filmdistribution
• Italy – Mikado Film
• Japan – Albatros Film (2003, theatrical), Ghibli Cinema Library/Buena Vista Home Entertainment (DVD/VHS)
• Russia – RUSCICO (2004, video)
• Spain – Alta Classics S.L. Unipersonal
• United Kingdom – British Film Institute
• United States – ArtMattan Productions (2000, dubbed)

• Kirikou and the Sorceress official USA Web site
• Kirikou and the Sorceress official USA Web site to purchase DVD
• Kirikou et la sorcière at Le Palais des dessins animés
• Kirikou and the Sorceress at AllMovie
• Kirikou and the Sorceress at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• Kirikou and the Sorceress at IMDb
• Kirikou and the Sorceress at Rotten Tomatoes
• BBCi review
• The Guardian review