1998: Kirikous and the Sorceress (aka Kirikou et la Sorcière, 16th).

What else happened this year? I have no idea. On a personal note, I went 30m underwater scuba diving, a depth I haven't achieved since.

What is the plot - in one sentence? We follow Kirikou, a prodigious baby, as he tries to save the shitty people in his Saharan village from a sorceress who has stolen all of their water and most of their men.

I don't have time, just spoil it for me? Why did you ask then? After repeatedly saving his village, he travels to his grandfather who gives advice on how to defeat the witch. He does, removing her curse, and instantly grows to adulthood, and he arranges to marry the now dreamy Sorceress. He returns, along with a bunch of male villagers who were supposed to have died fighting, hugs all around.

What is the Meaning of the title? Kirikou is our hero, and he is up against (and then married to) the sorceress, the lucky rogue.

Here is our hero with some squirrel-things who help him disguise himself as a bird. I enjoyed it and I'm old enough to be his grandfather.

Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? No, though it's set in 'Africa' so there's a lot of non-sexualised animated boobs, baby penis (Kirikou remains a naked baby until right at the end). For that reason alone, it wasn't shown in America or in movie theatres in the UK. Which makes not a lot of sense. There's a magic element to it, but it ends with him being kissed and married as a baby (albeit one who changes into a month-old-adult through magic). He also drowns but comes back to life magically, in what is a pretty harrowing scene.

Any thoughts? This was animated boldly, and was actually pretty short. Kirikou repeatedly saves the village he's in, and they repay him by getting into more trouble, threatening him with violence, and then not believing him or listening to his warning. When not getting captured or imperiled, they break into dance and make insulting songs about him. Why he's bothering to save them is a good question. As a final insult, they seek to kill him as thanks for saving the entire town forever. I hope he leaves afterwards. 

I couldn't find out, but this seems like it might be inspired by some folk tale, of a superhero baby as he's a prodigious, warthog-riding, witch-outsmarting, tunneling little devil. I liked his animation, too.

Would you recommend this? It's a nice, stylised animation, and it had some pretty funny bits, a few scary bits and some nice animal animation. Even the insulting Kirikou song (he's not big, but he's clever) song was pretty good too. I imagine that it's better for French kids than it is for a large middle-aged white guy, but I still had a good time.

Final thoughts? I have no final thoughts. Actually I liked the animation style, and would be interested in seeing more of it. There are sequels, which might be fun, but.. you know, lazy.

 for the full list of this shite, check here.