The King and the Mockingbird

I wasn't partly familiar with it's existence till recently. But it's worth discovering over off the internet.

The King and the Mockingbird is a little hard to understand without knowing any French. I don't know any so I just watched it and see what I can make out of the story by the actions and scenes. Takes place in a serial kingdom utopia. Where lived a king who was passionate with his image and power over people. Also in the kingdom lived a Mockingbird who watches over his kids and is a real nuisance to the King. As well as a young couple who magically came to life from the King's art gallery.

The rest of the story is bazaar and fantastic at the same time. The movie is very hard to find in R1 DVDs. Not as well known as "Triplets of Belleville" another great French movie. But there's yet to be a Special Edition that would include English translation for all English speaking countries to enjoy this masterpiece. Since the French do have their small share of animation producing.

The animation is old quality, because it began production as far back as the 40s. The likeness is a combination of Max Flechier/early Disney animation. And was created by a French animator, who was known as the Disney of France. I haven't seen any of his other ones. But this one here is his most well known work over in Europe.

So if you ever come across this title be sure to see it if you like foreign animation.

I saw this film when I was a child and it mesmerized me. I saw it recently and my fascination for this film hasn't declined. This film is a marvel. Among its particularities that are quite numerous, let's quote: the beauty of the landscapes , the harmony of the colors, the perfection of music and especially the irony of the dialogues which is not surprising as they were written by Jacques Prévert. Moreover, in this film (which was awarded by the "Louis Delluc" price in 1979 and it deserved it), Paul Grimault's goal is to show us his hatred of the tyranny and his defence in favour of the poor and the weak. The film shows a great contrast concerning this thema: the king and his court lives in modernity, in the light and in gigantic palace whereas the population lives in darkness, in obscurity and in poverty. As a conclusion sentence: a wonderful animation film which is much better than any Disney films

I saw this movie only once in a cinema, as a child, shortly after it was released. I still remembered scenes and bits of it more than 20 years later! I recall feeling particularly moved by the poor people kept captive underground, which evidences that children's stories must not necessarily be devoid of suffering and injustice. On the contrary: this kind of plot may feed children's sense of indignation and thus ultimately contribute to a better world.

This film is one of those rare pieces of art that are a true explosion of fantasy that will capture a child's imagination completely, combined with an underlying message that will also fascinate adults.

I bought the superbly produced "Édition Collector 2 DVD" set (Zone 2) through Amazon France about a year ago and it has become one of the favorite movies of my 5-year-old son, too, although neither of us speaks a word of French...

The poetry of Jacques Prevert's text associated with the poetry of Paul Grimault's drawing renders a unique piece of cartooning associating emotions and laughters in a rare way. It would be easy to sum up the story, but it would be like summing up a poem, it'd be a crime. Let's just say it is the story about the king V and three makes 8 and 8 makes 16.

I remember this movie in almost every scene in my head. The version I had was in English and was of course translated to "The King And The Bird." I watched it tirelessly as a child after my mom picked up the tape from somewhere. I could even repeat the bird's soliloquy at the beginning off by heart. The animation and the story are both excellent. I think it's one of the finest pieces of animation ever created. Sadly my tape of this great movie went missing years ago. If anyone knows where I may find another copy, preferably the English version but the French or German version will do despite my lack of understanding of the two languages, I would greatly appreciate it. Seems that this is quite an obscure title and very hard to find despite its winning the Dullec prize in the 80s when it came out.

-Sam