Les Contes de la Nuit (2011)

Gorgeous. Just breathtaking. Michel Ocelot took a break from making movies about little Kirikou and treated us to this gem of a film, in which all of the stories are told with the characters in silhouette. It's a gorgeous choice that allows for stunning backdrops. It's also an anthology, and this works like the Thousand and One Nights or the Decameron. It's absolutely wonderful stuff.

Kirikou et les Hommes et les Femmes (2012)

Kirikou and the Men and Women is completely charming – and possibly just as charming as Kirikou and the Sorceress. (I haven't seen Kirikou and the Wild Animals, which appeared between the original film and this one.) The best part of this is the explicit references to Soundiata Keita. In one of the vignettes in this Kirikou story, a griot appears, and she tells the story of Soundiata to the villagers and to Karaba. And Kirikou (of course) finishes the tale and invents a new ending. I forgot how much I love Kirikou, actually. I need to get hold of the second film.

This was not released in the United States, for reasons I don't understand. This is definitely a kids' film, though, so it would need to be dubbed.

Kirikou et la Sorcière (1998)

Kirikou and the Sorceress is absolutely adorable. It's funny and quirky and odd, and it is beautifully drawn with great music. I was completely charmed by this. It's a West African folktale or series of folk tales rendered in animation, and it is so much fun.

I watched this on the Criterion Channel, where it was one of their Saturday Matinees for kids. There are, apparently, a couple of sequels.