Les contes de la nuit

Nice framing story of an old man and two younger aspiring directors who get together in an abandoned Parisian cinema to brainstorm and create. Interestingly, the creative process is not entirely clear: Are the two children acting? Providing a model for the old man to animate? Regardless, the six stories all transpire in "exotic" locales (including medieval Europe), which appealed a lot to my kids. We've now watched it twice, and they loved it both times. The silhouette animation, with its rich colors, is beautiful and surprisingly complex. Sienna's favorite story was the Aztec-inspired City of Gold and its snake protector/attacker, Sebastian's was the Tibetan story of the talking horse and the boy who never lied, and mine was the wizard and the architect's son.

From the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress, this animated film, done in a CGI shadow puppet style, is about a brother and sister who, along with an elderly man they know, concoct movie scenarios. Six different fairy tale scenarios are illustrated. I've never actually seen any of the Kirikou films, but I've heard good things. This film doesn't inspire me to check anything else by Ocelot out. The visuals are quite gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but the screen writing is flat, boring and downright regressive. Five of the six stories have the boy as the hero saving the girl, who is a damsel in distress. The sixth one isn't particularly progressive, either. The version I watched on Netflix was dubbed in English by a group of British actors who are particularly boring. Skip it.

Ocelot's toons have always had the unfamiliar (African) imagery working for them. Their naive plot lines have been both an attraction and a limitation.

This episode film, framed with sessions in the re-voicing studio - where an owl is perched on the desk - are not a step towards more traditional work.

The recognisable Ocelot style is here mixed with a bit of Lotte Reiniger and boosted by a fascinating use of Three D, which spaces the arms and eyes of the outline crowd at different distances from the viewer, among other effects. Was it ever shown anywhere else but the Paris Champs Elysses that way? Whether the makers can take this style further and how it will go down with the tot audiences, I've seen cheer the Kirikou films, has yet to be seen.

I seriously have no idea why this was "made" 3-D. There was not real depth behind it (and I'm not even talking that much about character depth, though it is missing a bit too). While your imagination may be having a real hoot with this, your senses may tell you otherwise.

The story as it is, isn't that inventive either. It is nice and you can follow it pretty easy, but there is nothing special about the stories (3-D and animation aside that is, though as said, especially the former isn't really working on any level, no pun intended). I wonder what kids will think of this. Because they might be the main target audience for this. But I couldn't tell if this works for them ...

This is perfect for whoever wants to learn French. It's enunciated clearly and slowly, just like DuoLingo stories. The animation is silhouette style, like shadow play, but carefully done. The stories remind me of 1001 tales of Arabian nights, which were the entertainment of my childhood nights, so maybe I was seduced by the nostalgia, but I liked the show.

There is something that I disliked. The stories start from a point where three characters create worlds and stories using a computer and robot tailors and then they act out their fantasies. But I had no idea who these people were. It feels like you are dropped in the middle of something that you should have been aware of, but you're not. A fun premise to be sure, especially since it can entice a child to build their own stories or at least participate in something like that.

Also, I watched this on Netflix and for the life of me I don't understand why they would show it as a movie and not as a series. It is clearly composed of six independent stories, which would have been helpful to know before I started watching it.

Therefore my conclusion is that it is good to watch with your child, especially if you want to teach them the language, and I hope this review helps you to know that it's a collection of six separate stories and one doesn't have to spend an hour and a half to get to the end.