The Bungled Child

A collection of four animated short films, with a nature theme.

Explanation of the genesis of the Universe and live on Earth as well as the developement of human culture.

Eugenio

Two tree-creatures hibernating underneath the bark of their trees wake up by the quakes produced by a snowfall outside. After going out, they become friends and delight at playing with the snow.

In this evocative film about the eternal human search for home, Berta and Solomon arrive in a land that promises respite from their many journeys. But have they found utopia... or just another stop on their long journey?

The cruel Professor Savantas invites himself into an oasis cut off from the world to recover a huge diamond, which is the totem of the indigenous population and the keystone of the magical balance of the place.

Beautiful short about a day in the life of a bored apartment cat. Overweight and without affection, it escapes in an attempt to run after birds outside.

Two burglars release dozens of cats into a neighbourhood and start the dogs barking. They use the din to their advantage and dig up a bag of loot. However, the situation snowballs and turns into the worst night the burglars ever spent.

A collection of newly restored short films from the imagination of Paul Grimault, an icon of French animation. Le Marchand de notes (The Note Seller), 1942, 10 min L’Épouvantail (The Scarecrow), 1946, 10 min Les Passagers de la Grande Ourse, (The Passengers of the Ursa Major), 1943, 9 min Le Voleur de paratonnerres (The LIghtning Rod Thief), 1946, 10 min La Flûte magique (The Magic Flute), 1946, 9 min Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier), 1948, 11 min Le Diamant (The Diamond), 1970, 9 min Le Chien mélomane (The Dog Who Loved Music), 1973, 11 min

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

A stranger enters a town that has been evacuated because of an unexploded bomb. Meanwhile the inhabitants are watching through telescopes and are getting restless at the stranger’s antics.

A small creature travels through a well, hanging on a bubble and encountering various other strange life-forms.

A grandfather explains to his grandson that he'll have to take care of his flower garden after he dies. There follows a touching and poetic discussion about losing loved ones and on the marks they leave behind.

Ivory Tower

The Troublemaker

In the year 50 BC, Gaul is occupied by the Romans - nearly. But the small village of Asterix and his friends still resists the Roman legions with the aid of their druid's magic potion, which gives superhuman strength. Learning of this potion, a Roman centurion kidnaps the druid to get the secret formula out of him.

Land of the Snowy Mountains

Dimitri, the little bird from northern Europe, has landed on the plain of Ubuyu in Africa. Every day he learns to overcome his fears and discover a world full of surprises. In Ubuyu being different is an asset that he will share with Makeba the giraffe, Oko the zebra and Pili the meerkat.

The film is a sub-story to Kirikou and the Sorceress rather than a straight sequel. The movie is set while Kirikou is still a child and Karaba is still a sorceress. Like Princes et princesses and Les Contes de la nuit, it is an anthology film comprising several episodic stories, each of them describing Kirikou's interactions with a different animals. It is however unique among Michel Ocelot's films, not only in that it is co-directed by Bénédicte Galup (who has previously worked with him as an animator) but also for each of the stories being written by a different person (in all other cases, Ocelot has been the sole writer and director of his films).

A very lazy boy, whose mother can no longer stand watching him sleeping and eating all day long, decides to set to work, revealing unsuspected powers of imagination, invention, and perseverance.