Synopsis
The kingdom of Takicardie quakes under the rule of the tyrannical King Charles V-et-III-font-VIII-et-VIII-font-XVI, whose favourite pastime is shooting birds. His archenemy is a cheeky mockingbird, whose favourite pastime is thwarting the king’s attempts to shoot birds. One night, a portrait of the king comes to life and disposes of the real king, taking his place. The portrait king falls in love with a young shepherdess in another painting and intends to marry her. But, alas, the shepherdess has fallen in love with a chimneysweep and together they elope from the king’s palace. Enraged, the king sends his police to capture them and once they are within his power he forces the shepherdess to marry him. The mockingbird must use all his guile and courage to once more thwart the king and bring his evil reign to an end.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Jean MartinL’oiseau (voice)
- Renaud MarxLe ramoneur (voice)
- Agnès VialaLa bergère (voice)
- Pascal MazzottiLe roi (voice)
- Albert MédinaLe belluaire / Le haut hurleur (voice)
- Philippe DerrezLe liftier / Le speaker (voice)
- Raymond BussièresLe chef de la police (voice)
- Roger BlinL’aveugle (voice)
- Claude PiépluLe maire du palais (voice)
- Hubert DeschampsLe sentencieux (voice)
Recommandations
- 100
Time Out London
Lyrical, satirical and hugely entertaining, it deserves a wider audience. - 100
Total Film
A masterpiece of animation and imagination. - 100
New York Post
The surreal images, offbeat jokes and pointed human-rights allegory make this an altogether different experience from most American animation. It’s dreamy, poetic and not to be missed. - 90
Village Voice
The director invites us in, to play and dream. - 88
Slant Magazine
If the film were to propose a mandate for animation, it would be what the medium's etymology has longed suggested: to make the inanimate full of life. - 80
CineVue
Quickly paced and oozing with visual ingenuity, The King and the Mockingbird is an off-kilter but enormously enjoyable passion project whose stance as the vanguard of gorgeous, purely hand-drawn animation is as notable as its notorious production. - 80
The Guardian
It's a richly conceived treat. - 80
The New York Times
In its humor, its fairy tale origins and the characters’ rounded features, it plays more like a vintage Disney work, only nimbler and freer.
