The Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess – New animated film by Michel Ocelot – GeekNPlay

Filmmaker Michel Ocelot is back with a new project entitled Le Pharaon, le Sauvage et la Princesse. Presented in preview at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2022, the film has been in cinemas since October 19.

Michel Ocelot, the dream maker

Having become one of the most emblematic figures of French animation cinema, Michael Ocelot continues to make us dream in his brand new feature film. As a reminder, the filmmaker is part of this movement of revival French animation. Indeed, his fame and success began with his feature film Kirikou and the witch (1998). As described Robert Courtois, university professor specializing in psychology, Michael Ocelot strives to set up an allegorical narrative beginning with a transgression and a rupture. He therefore adopts the establishment of “invariant times of myths and fairy tales” in most of his works. It is here that lies the specificity of the filmmaker bringing a new wind to French animation. The director returns four years after his last film Dili to Paris (2018). He takes us on a journey through Egyptian, French and Moroccan lands at different times. Moreover, his film The Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess identically reproduces the device of his work Azure and Asmar (2006). The use of computer graphics in 2D and 3D is brilliantly exploited.

The Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess, the revival of myths and tales

In a word, this feature film is divided into three tales, taking place in three different eras and universes. The first tale takes place in ancient Egypt. The second story takes place in medieval French Auvergne. And the last story takes place within the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. Thereby, Michael Ocelot revives the storytelling of short stories unfolding over more than 83 minutes. At the initiative of this project, the filmmaker was able to count on the Grand Est region to finance his film. His remarks, collected during from an interview for Franceinfotestify to this desire to still want to surprise the spectators today:

I hope that my three films will please and do some good. I am an adult happy to be an adult, with all his ages in him, quite present. With “Pharaoh” and the union of Egypt and Africa, I am in my element and everything comes naturally to me. Children and adults expect me to surprise and convince them, and to achieve this, I aim for truth and sincerity..

We take stock

Michael Ocelot is directing and writing this feature film. He is accompanied by three teams of animators to create these different tales. The Saint-Quirin studio produces this film. On the casting side, we can find Oscar Lesage, Claire from La Rüe du Can and Aissa Maiga lending their voices to the different characters.

Thereby, you can now enjoy this film in French cinemas. Feel free to share your impressions of this new feature film on GeekNPlay or on the networks Facebook and Twitter.