Kirikou and the Sorceress

In this really delightful 2-D animation of a Senegalese folktale by Michel Ocelot and a team of French and European filmmakers, Kirikou is a hero literally from birth, and as an infant releases his village from the power of the sorceress who has appropriated their water, their gold, and their men. The visual style is a mixture of African folk art and Henri Rousseau, the music by Youssou N’Dour, in a hero tale with quite balanced moral lessons to convey, and plenty of humor. This film got bumped to the top of my Netflix queue when I was putting together an animation program for the Clark winter calendar. I ultimately took a different approach in compiling a program of shorts, but if those screenings are any kind of success, I will come right back with another triple feature including this, some Japanese anime, and some third multicultural variant to the domination of Disney. (1998, dvd, n.) *7+*