by Enakhe Oghumah

In a small African village, where nakedness is an acceptable part of life and water is available only in moderation, a pregnant woman sits in her hut as her unborn child speaks from her womb: “Mother, give birth to me!” To which she replies, “A child who can speak from his mother’s womb, can bring himself into the world.” Amazingly the little boy crawls from his mother and, simply disconnecting the umbilical cord, he stands tall announcing, “My name is Kirikou!” And so the story begins.

The French, relatively small in the world of animation, have staked their claim in the hands of director Michael Ocelot with his African extravaganza, Kirikou and the Sorceress.

With subtitles in place of the dreaded American voice-over, your eyes are immediately drawn to the bottom of the screen, taking away from the beauty of the artwork that is the basis of the animation. The beautiful colours, vibrant images and attention to detail come across to the audience like a breath of fresh air to the lungs. The village community are at odds with the evil sorceress Karaba, who lives away from the village. As the men go away to fight, never to return, the remaining villagers see no way out from the tyranny imposed by the sorceress’s minions, the Fetishes. As Kirikou witnesses the destruction of his community, he realises his special abilities and begins to look for the root of the sorceress’s evil whilst combating the evil being practised against him. But are the odds staked too high against the pint-sized wonder?

Armed with the skill of walking and talking from birth as well as the speed to match the Flash and the bravery to match Mr T (they share the same hair cut), Kirikou has to win over his community, who are willing to lay down and die, and show them that he has what it takes to do battle with the domineering Karaba and her Fetishes and save the village.

The mystical wonder of Kirikou and the Sorceress is not the beautiful sound of the French language as it passes back and forth through conversation, but the amount of detail that has gone into the film. Those with knowledge of indigenous African flora will recognise a number of plants, which are drawn from real plants growing on the continent. On this authenticity as a basis for the film, director Michael Ocelot has said, “Drawings of plants had to be exact reproductions of real tropical plants.”

A scene in which the sorceress sends her Fetishes to collect the gold that one of the villagers has hidden, is an emotional one. As they dig up the gold, they proceed to burn down the hut, leaving the owner screaming in disbelief and Kirikou watching on. The scene is reminiscent of the cross burning days of the Klu Klux Klan.

As well as the beautiful artistry, another element that makes this film so remarkable is the musical accompaniment. The soundtrack, produced entirely by Youssou N'Dour, is filled with a host of instruments synonymous with African music, including the sabaar, ritti and the belon, which add authenticity to the proceedings. The grey background to denote the evil sorceress mixed with the bright greens of the forests give Kirikou and the Sorceress that feel-good emotion that has audiences smiling at the screen and tapping their feet to the addictive music. “Kirikou is tiny. But he is brave…” they sing.

Watching this film you are taken on a journey into an unknown world where zombies, magicians, and magic hats mix with village life and living conditions, elements that are still widespread in many parts of Africa today.

Although the film is well known on the animation and festival circuits, it is slowly being introduced to mainstream audiences through a computer version of the film. A Playstation adaptation is available and shows the effect that the game has had on industry executives. The platform game, widely available in computer shops, gives animation the push it needs to be taken seriously outside of the powerhouses such as Disney and DreamWorks.

Remember: amateurs built the Ark and professionals built the Titanic!

The beautiful colours, vibrant images and attention to detail come across like a breath of fresh air. Watching this film you are taken on a journey into an unknown world.

http://www.kirikou.com for more information
Kirikou is available as a Playstation Game in Europe.