French flicks for kids

Laban et Labolina

Schools break up here tomorrow in the South of France so once again I'm looking for a few nice holiday activities for the kids. No skiing for us this year, Mr B has used up all his holiday time and I have to finish working on my shop (eh oui, ça vient, promis juré). I found some great art/craft books for Miles and Savannah at the Louvre, some of which are online here, so those will keep them busy for a while, and we've a few day trips planned to Nîmes, Avignon and Uzès, all very local, but lovely and quiet at this time of year.

While I was in Paris, living and breathing film and animation with Dylan at the CNC, I noticed a couple of great new films for kids, one of which has been released nationwide. I've already planned a short post for my long overdue Route 66 feature, but these films may be of interest to French readers, French cinema lovers and anyone young at heart.

Jeannot l'intrépide was the first French full-length animated film (1950), made by Hungarian director, author and producer Emeric Hajdu, better known by his stage name Jean Image. Inspired by Charles Perrault's Tom Thumb and American animation such as Betty Boop and Felix the Cat, Jeannot l'Intrépide was re-released yesterday.

Laban et Labolina (Lilla spöket Laban: Spökdags, 2007) is a series of 6 short animations adapted from the classic Swedish children's stories by Inger and Lasse Sandberg. Films du Préau offer an excellent selection of original films and have produced a series of free downloads for children to recreate Laban and his family in their castle, available here. If you have a look at their site you will find extracts of two beautiful series of films Malin comme un singe and La Boutique des Pandas produced by the Shanghai Arts and Film Studios in the 1960-70s. Do take a peek (see Les films en salle), even if they are in French, they really are marvellous.

Attendons Demain (Deng Minglian) by Hu Xiaonghua, China 1962

La Boutique des Pandas (Xiongmao Baihuo Shangdian) by Shen Zuwei and Zhuo Kequin, China 1979

Le Hérisson et la Pastèque (Ciwei bei Xigua) by Wang Borong and Qian Jiaxin, China 1979