Michel Ocelot

Director

October 27, 1943 (82 years)

Villefranche-sur-Mer, French Riviera, France

Biography

Michel Ocelot is a French writer, character designer, storyboard artist and director of animated films and television programs (formerly also animator, background artist, narrator and other roles in earlier works) and a former president of the International Animated Film Association. Though best known for his 1998 début feature Kirikou and the Sorceress, his earlier films and television work had already won Césars and British Academy Film Awards among others and he was made a chevalier of the L…

Filmography

7.4

Kirikou and the Sorceress

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

7.7

Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest

Raised on tales of a Djinn fairy princess, Azur, a young Frenchman goes to North Africa in search of the sprite, only to discover that his close childhood friend, Asmar, an Arab youth whose mother raised both boys also seeks the genie.

7.7

Ciné si

A silhouette animation anthology TV series conceived, written and directed by Michel Ocelot and realised at La Fabrique, consisting of short fantastical stories performed by the same animated "actors." A critical success but commercial failure at the time, no further episodes were commissioned beyond the initial 8, but, following the success of Ocelot's Kirikou and the Sorceress, 6 were edited into the 2000 feature Princes and Princesses, in which form they finally saw wide exposure and acclaim both in France and internationally; a further episode was included in a home release of short works in 2008, but one remains unavailable for public consumption.

6.6

Kirikou and the Wild Beasts

Kirikou's grandfather thinks that the story of Kirikou and The Witch was too short, so he proceeds to explain more about Kirikou's accomplishments. We find out how the little boy became a gardener, a detective, a maker of pottery, a merchant, a traveler and a doctor.

6.0

Gideon

No description available

7.0

The Insensitive Princess

The Insensitive Princess is a 1983 French animated television series written and directed by Michel Ocelot. The animation is a combination of cel and cutout animation while the elaborate architectural style of the production design has been said to be reminiscent, though visual association, of Charles Perrault and Jean de La Fontaine's fairy tales; like Ocelot's Les Trois Inventeurs before it and several episodes of the later Ciné si it takes place in a literary fairy tale-like fantasy setting, specifically a palatial theater, which mixes the ornate styles of decoration and dress of the upper-classes of both the time of the Ancien Régime and the belle époque and includes such fanciful technology as a baroque-styled submarine, elements of outright fantasy such as dragons and such anachronisms as a reference to motorcycles. It won first prize in its category at the 3rd Bourg-en-Bresse Animation Festival for Youth and the audience prize at the 6th Odense Film Festival.

6.7

Dilili in Paris

With the help of her delivery-boy friend, Dilili, a young Kanak, investigates a spate of mysterious kidnappings of young girls that is plaguing Belle Epoque Paris. In the course of her investigation she encounters a series of extraordinary characters, each of whom provides her with clues that will help her in her quest.

8.8

Dragons and Princesses

Dragons and Princesses is a 2010 French computer animation television program written, storyboarded and directed by Michel Ocelot and produced at Studio O for Canal+. It is a fairy tale anthology series of ten further 13-minute episodes in the format established in Ciné si. Five of the episodes are edited, with a feature-exclusive sixth, into the 2011 stereoscopic compilation movie Tales of the Night.

7.7

Princes and Princesses

In this episodic animated fantasy from France, an art teacher interprets a series of six fairy tales (each involving a prince or princess) with the help of two precocious students. Princes and Princesses was created using a special style of cutout animation, with black silhouetted characters performing the action against backlit backdrops in striking colors.

6.1

The Black Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess

Three tales, three ages, three worlds. At the time of Ancient Egypt, a young king becomes the first black pharaoh to deserve the hand of his loved one. During the French Middle Ages, a mysterious wild boy steals from the rich to give to the poor. In 18th-century Turkey, a prince of pastries and a princess of roses escape the palace to live their love.

7.3

Tales of the Night

Six exotic fables, each unfold in a unique locale, from Tibet, to medieval Europe, an Aztec kingdom, the African plains, and even the Land of the Dead.

6.3

Kirikou and the Men and Women

The grandfather welcomes us into his blue grotto, there was still beautiful memories of childhood to tell Kirikou: the times when he helped the men and women of his village and elsewhere ... He tells us how Kirikou, thanks to his bravery and intelligence, came to the aid of the strong woman. He tells us by what trick the little hero found the grumpy old man, who had been lost in the bush, and how a cherry threatened by the witch was finally able to pass on his knowledge to the villagers. We also discover the secret of a mysterious blue monster, and finally through a flute linked to the family of our small and valiant heroes, the magical power of music.

7.3

Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess

Four tales about princesses and adventurers around the world: The Mistress of Monsters, The Wizard Student, The Ship's Boy and His Cat, and Ivan Tsarevitch and his changeable princess.

N/A

The Three-Eared Rabbits

To free a princess from the tyrannical yoke of a Regent, a boy must overcome the infernal ordeal of the Three-Eared Rabbits, multicolored and music-loving creatures from whom much can be obtained simply by whistling certain tunes to them…

8.0

The Wedding Guest

No description available

5.6

Tales of the Night

Not to be confused with Ocelot's 2011 feature film, Tales of the Night is a made for TV silhouette animation. It is a compilation of 3 fairy tale like stories, bridged by sequences of a boy and girl in an abandoned theater.

7.2

The Prince of Jewels

Here we have an innocent boy, a pretty princess, a treacherous merchant and a giant eagle who is fond of jewels. The tale is set in the country of the Arabian Nights, under a hail of precious stones...

7.0

Yoru no tobari no monogatari: Samenai yume

Five further stories from the French designer, writer and director Michel Ocelot: La Maîtresse des monstres, Le Pont du petit cordonnier, Le Mousse et sa chatte, L'Écolier sorcier, and Ivan Tsarévitch et la Princesse Changeante. This compilation movie has only been released in Japan.

N/A

Icare

The story of Icarus, son of Dedalus, imprisoned in the labyrinth, but with a twist...

6.7

The Hidden Treasures of Michel Ocelot

I told a story, Kirikou and the Sorceress, that reached a large number of people. It was the first time in my life. But this film was not my first one. I had also made short films, with a very limited distribution. Nobody saw them. I am lucky enough now to introduce them to you, to make these little mechanisms run again; they are the result of perseverance and passion. Besides the almost forgotten past, I have added a dance of today, which I conceived for Björk. Also something of the future, a post-scriptum to my film "Azur & Asmar". In addition to the films, I try to explain the happy magic of these bits of nothing which became my life. Michel Ocelot