Kirikou and the Wild Beasts

The second film in the Kirikou series. It is not a sequel but a set of interstitial tales. The narrative consists of four episodes taking place between the events of the first film, each told by the village elder. Kirikou is a child the size of a hand who walked and talked on the day he was born. He does the same thing here: he solves the village's problems by thinking rather than by force. The four stories are these: how the garden was made, the trouble with the hyena, the episode about pottery, and the one about medicine. In each the village suffers a loss and Kirikou investigates why. The visual style is that of the first film: flat colour, sharp line and patterns drawn from West African art. The backgrounds look painted. The music was again made with African instruments. Michel Ocelot and Bénédicte Galup directed. All the characters from the earlier production are here, and the sorceress Karaba appears again. A pleasant continuation for anyone who likes animation and African tales. For someone who has not seen the first film, these episodes lack context and nobody is introduced.