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Kirikou and the Sorceress

Kirikou et la sorcière

  • Status: Released
  • 09-12-1998
  • Runtime: 71 min
  • Score: 7.336
  • Vote count: 1134

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

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)

Thilombo Lubambu

L'Oncle (voice)

Rémi Bichet

Kirikou adulte

Marie Augustine Diatta

La femme forte

Moustapha Diop

Le fétiche sur le toit

Isseu Niang

La femme maigre

Selly Raby Kane

La grande fille

Erick Patrick Correa

Le grand garçon

Adjoua Barry

La fille moyenne

Charles Edouard Gomis Correa

Le garçon moyen

Marie-Louise Shedeye Diiddi

La petite fille

Abdoulayé Diop Yama

Le veillard

Josephine Theodora M'Boup

La femme moyenne

Tabata N'Diaye

La femme âgée

Samba Wane

Le fétiche parleur

Aminatha N'Diaye

La femme mère

François Chicaïa

L'homme du village

N'Deyé Aïta N'Diaye

La femme du village

Abdou El Aziz Gueye

L'homme du village

Boury Kandé

La femme du village

Assy Dieng Bâ

Le cri de Karaba

Michel Elias

Voix, sons et bruitages des animaux

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....