« On dit que j'ai mis trente-cinq ans pour faire Le Roi et l'Oiseau... En réalité, j'ai mis cinq ans (en deux fois) pour le réaliser et trente pour trouver le fric ! »- Grimault In English it translates to "People say it took me 35 years to make The King and the Mockingbird...when in reality it took me five years (in two times) to direct it and 30 to find the money!"
I never expected to come accross a video on this film, let alone by someone who isn't a natural french speaker. I grew up with this movie, thanks to the same DVD you show at the end of the video. Even back then, it stood out from other similar cartoons, mainly disney movies, in ways that were always fascinating to me. Its slower pace or its unusual setting and characters, to name a few. The fact that even as a child, I had the feeling that there was a lot I wasn't getting about this movie while still being able to enjoy it is a testiment to its quality. Going back to it as an adult was just as much a delightful nostalgia trip as it was a rediscovery of the movie and of all its themes and meaning. Thank you for the video, the surrealist analysis of the film seems like an obvious pick now that I think about it. Also, don't pay too much attention to the people criticizing your french. A lot of french people have a very strict (if not elitist) relationship to our language, even those who barely know how to speak english or any other foreign language. Your french isn't great, but to anyone who doesn't obsess over it it's not really a distraction from the video.
I'm used to it to be honest you have no idea how many Non Japanese English speakers will blow a gasket if you say any word wrong in Japanese. This was an early video, I wasn't used to recording in a booth with a script I was far more comfortable in the world of public speaking, so it was a skill I needed to learn over time, but I will always put the flow or best take over the best pronunciation. Also Thank you for the kind words
I was about to post the exact same comment as Poncho (except I was on VHS tapes). I I might give a suggestion: when you want to pronounce words in foreign languages and can't find an easy way to hear it from someone who knows how to speak it, you can try Google Translate's autogenerated speech. Just select the language, write down the things you want to know the pronunciation and hit the speaker icon. It evens speaks slower if you hit it again. I know it's quite close for the french generations. I wish my country could continue to create such unique ambitious and timeless animated feature films. We are in a situation where we boast of having a lot of excellent art schools, some ranked among the best in the world for some, and yet our industry is not up to par. It's hard just to create an animation company, administrative, tax and legal overloads scare away everyone to say the least. Productions are rare, and lots of our artists move abroad to at least find a job, and the perspective of working at Disney is more attractive anyway.
I remember seeing that film when I was a child, I couldn't make sense of it but still it captivated me because of the art, the characters and their mysterious behaviour. I watched it so many times. Great explanation, thanks !
0:44 This 1944 movie is on Netflix, the english title being "Chimney Thief". That's how I found out about it, and after searching the name, only this video showed up. The short movie lasts 10 minutes.
I watched The Boy and The Heron a week ago and I noticed the parallel between this movie and that one - from its surrealist imagery and the young protagonists exploring the dreamy landscape. And considering Miyazaki was influenced by this movie, he was trying to make his own The King and the Mockingbird.
I remember, the first time that I watched this incredible masterpiece. I was 6 or 7 years old, and I was captivated by the story, the characters, the scenery. I was crying at the end. It's probably one of my favourite movie.
I wish Criterion would release a collection of Grimault's work. His animation style actually strongly reminds me of Mr Williams'. Both extraordinary and exceptional animators.
I remember watching this movie with my little sister and my parents back in 1980. I hadn't realised it was such a long time ago. I could listen to the music every day of my life, a bit like Joe Hisaichi's work on Miyazaki's- Kiki
I watched the film when I was very young. We even had a picture book of it which I looked at dozens of times. The images are etched into my mind to this very day. So I was happy seeing this video in my recommendations. Thank you for these insights.
Am I wrong or is the King noticeably similar to Salvador Dali also? After the twenties a lot of the original surrealists broke with Dali over politics and considered him kind of a sellout so its not totally unbelievable that the king could be at least partially a dig at him.
Très bon travail, tu résumes très bien cette œuvre et surtout le grand Paul Grimault, quel Homme... Pour la paix, l'humanité et la poésie et le parfait duo entre lui et Jacques Prévert a donné l'un des plus grands classiques de l'animation française. Aujourd'hui, la poésie se meurt et les sourires s'envolent on ne sait où, la vie c'est l'amour, la poésie et la tolérance et avoir été éduqué par ça dès l'âge de 4 ans c'est une fierté car l'amour fait peur aujourd'hui mais j'y croirai jusqu'à la fin quitte à passer pour un faible ou quelqu'un de trop candide ! LOVE POWER
pareil je me souviens d avoir regardé ce film en mat 3 et ça m a pris 11 ans pour retrouver son nom, l aspect visuel et audio du film reste juste tellement hallucinant meme maintenant
I watched this as a child and throughout my life vague scenes have replayed in dreams. One day I set out to track down the film but failed. Several years later I tried again but this time succeeded. The film still kinda creeps me out but I appreciate it. Feels like the director wouldve been happy to know it followed me around for so long..
One of my favorite animated film of all time. I first saw it in theater as a kid with my class, i was 6 or 7. I really wish they were more films like this one, a fine piece of art, written with care and intent, with a distinct art direction, that can be enjoy by adults and children at the same time. Great video, thanks to you i learned things about the creation of the film that i didn't know. Your channel tackles interesting subjects, keep up the good work! :)
I watched that cartoon when i was 5-6 years old child and on TV. Then never see it again, when i grow up something remind me this and i barely find this movie part of old nostalgic memory. I need to re-watch it.
No you are right, the clip was somewhat misleading it's more that the imagery in Metropolis (and of German Expressionism) influenced Surrealism. The part I showed from the film with the eyes could be seen as precursor to Dali's contribution to the film Spellbound(1945). Metropolis also played a big part on Mocking Bird's development in message and scale.
Pause and Select Metropolis isn't surreal, it's a Science fiction German expressionist film. Google is your friend, and I say that not being nasty. Too many people on RUclips classify Metropolis as "surreal". Google the movie Metropolis. The Germans were known more for expressionist films, French/Spaniard were known more for surrealist films. I'm talking early cinema like silent movie era.
For me the simplest definition of surrealism is to arrange that which is natural in a way that creates the unnatural. An apple and a bowler hat are natural objects but if you arrange them together.. A dream can often do the same: jumble the context and connections but keep the pieces intact.
Wow. At first I didn't know what to think of this film. Especially with the ending. But after watching this, I think I'm going to give it another shot. It goes without saying, but excellent video.
Though, I would be lying if I said that the ending didn't make me a little teary eyed. What threw me off was that we never got any closure about what happened to the Shepherdess, the Chimneyshep, or even the blind dude and the citizens. But like you said, their not really important to the grand scheme of what Paul's message.
I just recently saw this film, and when I saw the ending, I literally wanted to applaud. The symbolism was beautifully made, like the rest of the film.
@@snoopsq.527 IMO i always saw it as a "This story ends here, but Their Story continue elsewhere", like it is only the beginning of the journey and not the journey in itself. They are free to go and do what they want and it is not our place to tamper or spectate on it, but we should take the example.
I found this incredible film in a junk DVD bin at some discount store in my hometown in Oregon. Its called ‘The Curious Adventures of Mr.Wonderbird’ with Peter Ustinov as the Wonderbird(Mockingbird). My kids, born post 911, love it! As do I. The surrealist angle makes beautiful sense and Im happy to have found it. Great to see others aware of and interested in this film. .The Djinn Fairy’, The Sorceress(Kiriko) all the Studio Ghibli films have been influenced! Makes full sense!
I had this movie on a DVD. The creepiest shit I've seen to date. Sure, as I child I've watched a lot of horror movies. Some of them were scary, others were not. Later, as I grew up, would discover a lot of dark, creepy corners of internet. But nothing made me fell so unease like watching this weird, alien movie.
It's a different kind of horror. Otherworldly designs and settings layered over something familiar can start your brain working, seeing strange structures or vacant buildings get you thinking "why was this made? what was it's purpose?" I'm not sure what I would call it other than "Alien" in nature.
I just want to say two tings. 1.) Tis was a fascinating story. THank you for taking the time to tell it. 2.) I demand everybody who sees this comment go to 2:18 and TRY to tell me that choice of picture isn't 100% intentional hilarious burn.
Thanks to this video I stumbled upon recently, I went ahead and viewed it thru Amazon Rental. My reaction = Awe struck! Truly a hidden treasure in all animation history!
Stevem Totally agree. For me, that's the most beautiful and smart piece of art make in animation, you should understand french to truly see the magic combination of words and images.
I used it when going through the script, the issue is trying to make saying it flows in the sentence. I'm hoping I'm better at this now, than I was 9 months ago ahahah
I think it is a little short-sighted to outrightly call revolutionary art more thoughtful than archetypical stories. Archetypical stories have a lot of hidden depth that goes to the heart of the human condition. The focus on the romance is more a representation of the archetypical concept of the union and balance of the masculine and the feminine. Indeed, revolutionary stores are often more eager to tell you their message and so require less puzzling to figure out, though this is not always the case.
I'm talking about in the context to this film, where it was the intention to have this revolutionary style message that was taken away by the producers. Not all themes are created equal by default one theme isn't more compelling than another, that's on the story teller. Although considering the landscape which this film was made, nothing but basic romantic fairy tales. What Grimault was trying to do was different from his contemporaries and should be celebrated as such.
I wouldn't doubt that he wanted to do something about that, even if it alienated certain theatergoers of the mainstream expecting the same thing every time.
My music teacher showed this movie when I was 7, I always kept a shot of a falling ceiling in a cavern (which ended up being the underground city) and I found out today the name by pure chance.
Miles Angerman are you insane? He's mislabeling this film as well as many others. Calling Metropolis a "surreal" film? Calling this animated film surreal....it's a fantasy drama. He's totally misinforming you.
Great video m8 these subjects are not enough talked about these days glad I found you ^^ P.s. as a french your pronounciation also really gave me a good laugh lmao
THis is an amazing video that taught me a lot about that film I have seen many times, and I am French. Just for information (it's really not a problem), the pronunciation of French names is really off and at times, the spelling (Cocteau, sounds like "cocto"). Prévert is akin to "pray vair", Grimault "gree mo". But this is just for your enjoyment, I didn't mind it at all. Thanks a lot.
Thanks for making this video. I have to tell you one thing very important, maybe you didn't get enough; the english title breaks the initial balance and maybe that's why you didn't get the thing the most important in this poetic movie. The whole concept is based on the balance of "le roi" (the law/the rules) and "l'oiseau" (the freedom),. Freedom is the only who can moke the Law but also the true Love is possible thanks to Freedom. Mariage/law, rules can't understand love. If you really want to understand the movie you have to watch movies that Prevert wrote before. "Le Roi et l'Oiseau" is like the final allegory of what Grimault and Prevert worked on all there life: freedom. Sorry my english is not good enough so I could really explain you in details. I hope you will see the movie again to understand and feel what I try to explain. This movie has the best happy ending Prevert and Grimault ever dreamed of: the city of Law(rules) is down, freedom has the last word. Si vous voulez aimer ce film essayer d'apprendre le français, car dans la langue passe une culture qu'aucune traduction ne saurait rendre. Si vous voulez aimez, soyez libre et sachez rêver. C'est le conseil d'une french girl
A very nice analysis but I honestly think they did a great job with the title "King/Moc-king bird" = The Law (king) and Freedom (bird) that makes fun (=mocking) of the Law. Ι find it a very clever translation.
@@therealconniefrancis The original title is "Le roi et l'oiseau", that means in english "The king and the bird". I just wanted to explain that the original one pointed more the duality, the title is a perfect balance between 2 words and so on, 2 way of life' conceptions. It maybe gives a more obvious clue about the symbolic. But when you get it, of course the english title is a nice one too :)
@ 6:18 The king's concern was his actual role in history as a ruler. A caring and open-minded leader is always preferable to a king that "can't see beyond the end of his nose". And he tried to change the history by simply changing a painting. A great video for a great movie!
Just found your channel through this video. Maybe you could do a video about Les Maîtres du Temps (masters of time) too, great SF french animated film from the 80s.
I can imagine a modern adaptation of The Sheppardess and the Chimeny Sweep where two deeply troubled celebrities/pop culture icons meet and fall in love between the blurred lines of time, e.g. Judy Garland and Michael Jackson (I would use Elizabeth Taylor, but they were already good and close friends), or Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain, etc. Perhaps Mr. Lonely is close enough.
Did any one notice that the real king has a musical box, and the music it’s the same music than the blind character that lives down the city is playing. Which make me think, where did the kind end up? It’s maybe the blind beggar? It’s so weird that they have the same music box
Would you do a behind the scenes video like this for The Secret of NIHM? I feel it’s a woefully underrated movie and certainly the best of the don bluth movies.
Thank you. I finally know this movie's name. There is a Courage the Cowardly Dog episode that has more than a few nods to this movie and it drove me nuts for years trying to find the original film it was referencing. Courage the Cowardly Dog is itself heavily influenced by surrealist ideas and themes.
Oh wow I never knew Courage made an ep inspired from King and the Mocking Bird, I used to watch that show all the time! Yeah especially with it's horror tendencies it was quite surreal using other mediums and all that.
I often assumed the reason the two main characters were flat was because they just came to life and gained flesh and blood of their own. It takes time for a person and multiple drafts a work of art to gain it's own identity.
Will you ever consider the Russian animated movie “The hunchback Horse” and it’s 1977 remake movie “the Magic Pony”? The backstory of the making of those movies is quite interesting and the animation is pretty dang good for its time. 😊
This is my first exposure to both your work and the King and the Mockingbird, and I am extremely grateful for my introduction to both. Very well done, very informative and well scripted. Thank you very much. Have you considered doing something with Alice In Wonderland?
Metropolis isn't surreal. It's a Science fiction German expressionist film. That scene from Metropolis you just showed is utilizing ART DECO. ART DECO can be seen through out the film but it isn't surrealism nor does that make it an art deco film....it's still a science fiction/ German expressionist film.
The newer scenes added to the film did take me out a bit given the sudden shift in quality between cuts. It's not as bad as say, the Looney Tunes movie Warner Bros. was putting out at the time, where trying to gel classic Golden Age footage with new material done by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and others that has a greater disparity of quality due to the age of said staff. Paul Grimault certainly had his hands full getting the look just right such as with the backgrounds in his revised edition. Animation isn't quite on 1's all the time but that's a minor quibble.
It's a minor enough change I'm glad he was able to finish it before digital animations came in. That would of been a severe change in quality like the redrawn frames in dragonball kai
Did that tower @5:05 inspire the tower where Clarisse is imprisoned in Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut feature film "Castle of Cagliostro"? They look soo similar!
Great review. I have been looking for an English version of what I knew as ‘Mr Bird to the Rescue’ for years. This was an English dubbed version of the 1980’s film. Do you know how where I can get one and what it would be called?
I had the same “Mr Bird to the rescue “ movie on VHS. I of course remember the king more than anything. I’m hoping I have that VHS stored away somewhere
0:20 _Which led to him opening his own animation company - _*_Less Jemow_* When uncertain as to the pronunciation, type it into Google Translate and let it say it out loud for you, for crying out loud! Anyway. Go on...
Surely you'd have noticed, at least, that the _s_ was silent in _Les._ Anyway, that was my trivial nit pick on an otherwise great video. Thank you and keep up the good work, sir. :-)
The recording process back when I did this was not a good one I was not confident reading in the booth. When I got to a French word it involved stopping going on google translate , trying to read it 5 or 6 times, go back to the script fail a couple times rinse and repeat until I read the script again for take 2. I'm trying to improve in pronunciation as I as I go, but I find the flow is also pretty important. Finding the balance between stopping in my tracks to get the word as accurate as possible or trying to make the sentence sound as natural as possible. But yah thanks for watching , I'm glad you enjoyed most of it outside that stuff ahah.
Stevem you should ask a friend to help you pronounce these things. French is only a difficult language to read if you try to read French in English. You listen to a correct French pronunciation, but then you paradoxically speak the French as if you are reading English text. If you want an especially good example, consider the following: you pronounced voleur as voyeur. This is an innocent mistake, but a voleur is a thief, and a voyeur is someone who finds great arousal in covertly watching people in the nude. Voyeur is also ironic here, as voyeur comes from the English misreading of the French voir, where voir means “to see.”
Could anyone tell me the name of the movie/animation of 1:35 to 1:37? EDIT: for anyone wondering, found it as part of the movie Arabian Knight "Thief and the cobbler chase scene"
Cool! Did you see Richard William's short film, Prologue, he released a couple of years ago? He wants to make it the first part of a larger movie. In terms of draftsmanship, it's gotta be up there with the best animated films.
yify.onl/watch-prologue-short-online-free-yify/ When this film was up for an award, it used to be available online in hd officially. But you can watch it via the above link, and probably find a high quality version on torrent or somewhere. Ugh... This John K sexual harassment thing is bumming me out. :-( [sorry for the non-sequitur]
8:43 The true ending (in 1952) is better because it's not sad and i love the shepherdess and the chimney sweep,and the original movie called "Mr Wonderbird" is better than the reamke from 1980. It's my opinion. Too bad the original version is underrated!
That's fair, my point is more that the 1980 version was the artists vision. I do think the 1952 version has it's own merits in that it's a tighter film, too bad you can't get your hands on this version anymore. Outside of old VHS scans from Archive.org
I found the 1980 version better because of the greater inclusion of famous poet Prévert's dialogues, and for it's greater critic of human vices. The music also made it beautiful and added to the overall beauty. The 1980 ending also gave a more stunning message and gave us another perspective on the fairytale ending of the story
That's true. people do have their opinions over which version they like the best, sometimes out of familiarity. I saw "Mr. Wonderbird" first before the other personally, the '52 release certainly had to go with a concrete ending that wraps it all up in a bow the way it is, while the '80 version chooses to be a little mysterious and thought-provoking of what we've seen (the theme of 'freedom' is certainly there, not only with the footsteps leading away from the ruins but also with one of the caged trap as well. I only wish we had a decent copy of the '52 version than the same copy that's circulated for years.
« On dit que j'ai mis trente-cinq ans pour faire Le Roi et l'Oiseau... En réalité, j'ai mis cinq ans (en deux fois) pour le réaliser et trente pour trouver le fric ! »- Grimault
In English it translates to "People say it took me 35 years to make The King and the Mockingbird...when in reality it took me five years (in two times) to direct it and 30 to find the money!"
Dude, My Animation History teacher showed this video today in class. Your videos are amazing, you deserve more subscribers!
Oh wow what an honour!
Never thought my videos would be teaching classes
I never expected to come accross a video on this film, let alone by someone who isn't a natural french speaker.
I grew up with this movie, thanks to the same DVD you show at the end of the video. Even back then, it stood out from other similar cartoons, mainly disney movies, in ways that were always fascinating to me. Its slower pace or its unusual setting and characters, to name a few. The fact that even as a child, I had the feeling that there was a lot I wasn't getting about this movie while still being able to enjoy it is a testiment to its quality. Going back to it as an adult was just as much a delightful nostalgia trip as it was a rediscovery of the movie and of all its themes and meaning.
Thank you for the video, the surrealist analysis of the film seems like an obvious pick now that I think about it.
Also, don't pay too much attention to the people criticizing your french. A lot of french people have a very strict (if not elitist) relationship to our language, even those who barely know how to speak english or any other foreign language. Your french isn't great, but to anyone who doesn't obsess over it it's not really a distraction from the video.
I'm used to it to be honest you have no idea how many Non Japanese English speakers will blow a gasket if you say any word wrong in Japanese.
This was an early video, I wasn't used to recording in a booth with a script I was far more comfortable in the world of public speaking, so it was a skill I needed to learn over time, but I will always put the flow or best take over the best pronunciation.
Also Thank you for the kind words
I was about to post the exact same comment as Poncho (except I was on VHS tapes).
I I might give a suggestion: when you want to pronounce words in foreign languages and can't find an easy way to hear it from someone who knows how to speak it, you can try Google Translate's autogenerated speech. Just select the language, write down the things you want to know the pronunciation and hit the speaker icon. It evens speaks slower if you hit it again. I know it's quite close for the french generations.
I wish my country could continue to create such unique ambitious and timeless animated feature films. We are in a situation where we boast of having a lot of excellent art schools, some ranked among the best in the world for some, and yet our industry is not up to par. It's hard just to create an animation company, administrative, tax and legal overloads scare away everyone to say the least. Productions are rare, and lots of our artists move abroad to at least find a job, and the perspective of working at Disney is more attractive anyway.
I remember seeing that film when I was a child, I couldn't make sense of it but still it captivated me because of the art, the characters and their mysterious behaviour. I watched it so many times. Great explanation, thanks !
No problem its a great film worth remembering
I adored it as a kid, this music is engraved into my memory
يالله ما احلى الموسيقا التصويرية الفيلم شفناه عشرات المرات انا و اخواتي في اواخر الثماتينات و الحمدلله عثرت عليه أخيرا و بعد جهد جهيد 💖💖💖💖💖
0:44 This 1944 movie is on Netflix, the english title being "Chimney Thief". That's how I found out about it, and after searching the name, only this video showed up. The short movie lasts 10 minutes.
I watched The Boy and The Heron a week ago and I noticed the parallel between this movie and that one - from its surrealist imagery and the young protagonists exploring the dreamy landscape. And considering Miyazaki was influenced by this movie, he was trying to make his own The King and the Mockingbird.
I remember, the first time that I watched this incredible masterpiece. I was 6 or 7 years old, and I was captivated by the story, the characters, the scenery. I was crying at the end. It's probably one of my favourite movie.
I wish Criterion would release a collection of Grimault's work. His animation style actually strongly reminds me of Mr Williams'. Both extraordinary and exceptional animators.
Naaah Arrow Films should do it.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 Alright, either one is fine. As long as it's given a marvelous release. I really wouldn't care which label releases it.
I wish either of these two companies would release more neglected classic animation, like this, Thief and the Cobbler or Angel’s Egg.
I remember watching this movie with my little sister and my parents back in 1980. I hadn't realised it was such a long time ago. I could listen to the music every day of my life, a bit like Joe Hisaichi's work on Miyazaki's- Kiki
I watched the film when I was very young. We even had a picture book of it which I looked at dozens of times. The images are etched into my mind to this very day.
So I was happy seeing this video in my recommendations. Thank you for these insights.
Am I wrong or is the King noticeably similar to Salvador Dali also? After the twenties a lot of the original surrealists broke with Dali over politics and considered him kind of a sellout so its not totally unbelievable that the king could be at least partially a dig at him.
Très bon travail, tu résumes très bien cette œuvre et surtout le grand Paul Grimault, quel Homme... Pour la paix, l'humanité et la poésie et le parfait duo entre lui et Jacques Prévert a donné l'un des plus grands classiques de l'animation française.
Aujourd'hui, la poésie se meurt et les sourires s'envolent on ne sait où, la vie c'est l'amour, la poésie et la tolérance et avoir été éduqué par ça dès l'âge de 4 ans c'est une fierté car l'amour fait peur aujourd'hui mais j'y croirai jusqu'à la fin quitte à passer pour un faible ou quelqu'un de trop candide ! LOVE POWER
I've seen this masterpiece around the age of four- in kinder garden. Merci.
pareil je me souviens d avoir regardé ce film en mat 3 et ça m a pris 11 ans pour retrouver son nom, l aspect visuel et audio du film reste juste tellement hallucinant meme maintenant
I watched this as a child and throughout my life vague scenes have replayed in dreams. One day I set out to track down the film but failed. Several years later I tried again but this time succeeded. The film still kinda creeps me out but I appreciate it. Feels like the director wouldve been happy to know it followed me around for so long..
One of my favorite animated film of all time. I first saw it in theater as a kid with my class, i was 6 or 7. I really wish they were more films like this one, a fine piece of art, written with care and intent, with a distinct art direction, that can be enjoy by adults and children at the same time. Great video, thanks to you i learned things about the creation of the film that i didn't know. Your channel tackles interesting subjects, keep up the good work! :)
I watched that cartoon when i was 5-6 years old child and on TV. Then never see it again, when i grow up something remind me this and i barely find this movie part of old nostalgic memory. I need to re-watch it.
Sorry to be pedantic, but would Metropolis be considered surrealist? It seems closer to German Expressionism than anything else.
No you are right, the clip was somewhat misleading it's more that the imagery in Metropolis (and of German Expressionism) influenced Surrealism. The part I showed from the film with the eyes could be seen as precursor to Dali's contribution to the film Spellbound(1945).
Metropolis also played a big part on Mocking Bird's development in message and scale.
Metropolis is almost definitive of "Expressionism" and "Expressionist" filmography.
Not surrealist.
Pause and Select Metropolis isn't surreal, it's a Science fiction German expressionist film. Google is your friend, and I say that not being nasty. Too many people on RUclips classify Metropolis as "surreal". Google the movie Metropolis. The Germans were known more for expressionist films, French/Spaniard were known more for surrealist films. I'm talking early cinema like silent movie era.
For me the simplest definition of surrealism is to arrange that which is natural in a way that creates the unnatural.
An apple and a bowler hat are natural objects but if you arrange them together..
A dream can often do the same: jumble the context and connections but keep the pieces intact.
Thank you for this!!
great movie and great video
Wow. At first I didn't know what to think of this film. Especially with the ending. But after watching this, I think I'm going to give it another shot. It goes without saying, but excellent video.
Though, I would be lying if I said that the ending didn't make me a little teary eyed. What threw me off was that we never got any closure about what happened to the Shepherdess, the Chimneyshep, or even the blind dude and the citizens. But like you said, their not really important to the grand scheme of what Paul's message.
I just recently saw this film, and when I saw the ending, I literally wanted to applaud. The symbolism was beautifully made, like the rest of the film.
Still the '52 version made it seem rather amusing they didn't move away too far from where the castle was but it was an ending none the less.
@@snoopsq.527 IMO i always saw it as a "This story ends here, but Their Story continue elsewhere", like it is only the beginning of the journey and not the journey in itself.
They are free to go and do what they want and it is not our place to tamper or spectate on it, but we should take the example.
I found this incredible film in a junk DVD bin at some discount store in my hometown in Oregon. Its called ‘The Curious Adventures of Mr.Wonderbird’ with Peter Ustinov as the Wonderbird(Mockingbird). My kids, born post 911, love it! As do I. The surrealist angle makes beautiful sense and Im happy to have found it. Great to see others aware of and interested in this film. .The Djinn Fairy’, The Sorceress(Kiriko) all the Studio Ghibli films have been influenced! Makes full sense!
I had this movie on a DVD. The creepiest shit I've seen to date. Sure, as I child I've watched a lot of horror movies. Some of them were scary, others were not. Later, as I grew up, would discover a lot of dark, creepy corners of internet. But nothing made me fell so unease like watching this weird, alien movie.
It's a different kind of horror.
Otherworldly designs and settings layered over something familiar can start your brain working, seeing strange structures or vacant buildings get you thinking "why was this made? what was it's purpose?"
I'm not sure what I would call it other than "Alien" in nature.
Very helpful in my study of this classic film! Lucid. Informative. Fascinating.
I haven't thought about Paul Grimault for a long time, but am now eager to check out this film. Some of my favorite movies you mentioned in here.
A unique feeling to have seen this as a child, fascinating and depressive.
I just want to say two tings.
1.) Tis was a fascinating story. THank you for taking the time to tell it.
2.) I demand everybody who sees this comment go to 2:18 and TRY to tell me that choice of picture isn't 100% intentional hilarious burn.
It's like a prank a little brother would play. I love it.
Anyway I appreciate the knowledge and the laugh
Thanks to this video I stumbled upon recently, I went ahead and viewed it thru Amazon Rental. My reaction = Awe struck! Truly a hidden treasure in all animation history!
It should be more well known
Stevem Totally agree. For me, that's the most beautiful and smart piece of art make in animation, you should understand french to truly see the magic combination of words and images.
Great video, except maybe for the French pronunciations, but that's okay, the inclusion of the titles helped
I can't say French was ever my best subject at school hahah
Google translate can help. It's prononciation is not perfect but understandable.
I used it when going through the script, the issue is trying to make saying it flows in the sentence. I'm hoping I'm better at this now, than I was 9 months ago ahahah
Your youtube channel is like a free college course on animation history.
I think it is a little short-sighted to outrightly call revolutionary art more thoughtful than archetypical stories. Archetypical stories have a lot of hidden depth that goes to the heart of the human condition. The focus on the romance is more a representation of the archetypical concept of the union and balance of the masculine and the feminine. Indeed, revolutionary stores are often more eager to tell you their message and so require less puzzling to figure out, though this is not always the case.
I'm talking about in the context to this film, where it was the intention to have this revolutionary style message that was taken away by the producers. Not all themes are created equal by default one theme isn't more compelling than another, that's on the story teller. Although considering the landscape which this film was made, nothing but basic romantic fairy tales. What Grimault was trying to do was different from his contemporaries and should be celebrated as such.
I wouldn't doubt that he wanted to do something about that, even if it alienated certain theatergoers of the mainstream expecting the same thing every time.
Dude I remember this movie like a fever dream, I was so young when I watched it
My music teacher showed this movie when I was 7, I always kept a shot of a falling ceiling in a cavern (which ended up being the underground city) and I found out today the name by pure chance.
Big thanks from France for what you did !
FINALLY! someone finally talks about the king and the mockingbird holy fucking finally.
This was so interesting. Well done!
I recently watchedca castle of cagliostro retrospective that references this film i believe, so cool to see a video on it.
But Metropolis is from 1927, not the 1930's.
True although it did leave a big impact on 30s film making and it was also re-released in the mid 30s
please continue making videos, this was a fantastic introduction.
Miles Angerman are you insane? He's mislabeling this film as well as many others. Calling Metropolis a "surreal" film? Calling this animated film surreal....it's a fantasy drama. He's totally misinforming you.
I think this the most deep catoon I ever see.
These are all great! You should be more popular!
I had to laugh at "Renaye", I'm sorry :D But great video! Thanks!
Great video m8 these subjects are not enough talked about these days glad I found you ^^
P.s. as a french your pronounciation also really gave me a good laugh lmao
Quite an enjoyable watch! I will probably watch the movie now
Have you considered reviewing BELLADONNA, 1001 NIGHTS, SON OF THE WHITE MARE and/or the 1974 Japanese JACK AND THE BEANSTALK?
THis is an amazing video that taught me a lot about that film I have seen many times, and I am French. Just for information (it's really not a problem), the pronunciation of French names is really off and at times, the spelling (Cocteau, sounds like "cocto"). Prévert is akin to "pray vair", Grimault "gree mo". But this is just for your enjoyment, I didn't mind it at all. Thanks a lot.
I remember watching the film without the aggregated scenes, it changed the dynamic now that I notice it. Gotta rewatch this now 😁
I remember watching this on HRT 2 and sometimes I would think it was in my dreams.
Thanks for making this video. I have to tell you one thing very important, maybe you didn't get enough; the english title breaks the initial balance and maybe that's why you didn't get the thing the most important in this poetic movie. The whole concept is based on the balance of "le roi" (the law/the rules) and "l'oiseau" (the freedom),. Freedom is the only who can moke the Law but also the true Love is possible thanks to Freedom. Mariage/law, rules can't understand love. If you really want to understand the movie you have to watch movies that Prevert wrote before. "Le Roi et l'Oiseau" is like the final allegory of what Grimault and Prevert worked on all there life: freedom. Sorry my english is not good enough so I could really explain you in details. I hope you will see the movie again to understand and feel what I try to explain. This movie has the best happy ending Prevert and Grimault ever dreamed of: the city of Law(rules) is down, freedom has the last word.
Si vous voulez aimer ce film essayer d'apprendre le français, car dans la langue passe une culture qu'aucune traduction ne saurait rendre. Si vous voulez aimez, soyez libre et sachez rêver. C'est le conseil d'une french girl
That's very interesting, what films did they make before them? Are they subtitled , my french is non existent and your English isn't that bad
A very nice analysis but I honestly think they did a great job with the title "King/Moc-king bird" = The Law (king) and Freedom (bird) that makes fun (=mocking) of the Law. Ι find it a very clever translation.
@@therealconniefrancis The original title is "Le roi et l'oiseau", that means in english "The king and the bird". I just wanted to explain that the original one pointed more the duality, the title is a perfect balance between 2 words and so on, 2 way of life' conceptions. It maybe gives a more obvious clue about the symbolic. But when you get it, of course the english title is a nice one too :)
The s in les is silent, it's french not spanish!!
fantastic work
The idea of including a bird reminds me of Thumbelina, (1994) where a swallow (bird) narrates and becomes somewhat a pivotal character in the movie.
@ 6:18 The king's concern was his actual role in history as a ruler. A caring and open-minded leader is always preferable to a king that "can't see beyond the end of his nose". And he tried to change the history by simply changing a painting.
A great video for a great movie!
Would have loved to see Dali in the Jodorowsky Dune movie if it had been made!
Lol,at the Thumbnail I thought it's a upgrade boss,great video btw
Thank you so much for sharing!
Just found your channel through this video.
Maybe you could do a video about Les Maîtres du Temps (masters of time) too, great SF french animated film from the 80s.
1:51 - 1:55 Where did you found this clip with the king's animation cels?
This looks really fun to watch baked.
Its my favorite film so far
I can imagine a modern adaptation of The Sheppardess and the Chimeny Sweep where two deeply troubled celebrities/pop culture icons meet and fall in love between the blurred lines of time, e.g. Judy Garland and Michael Jackson (I would use Elizabeth Taylor, but they were already good and close friends), or Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain, etc. Perhaps Mr. Lonely is close enough.
Can you please link the music that plays in the beginning? I'm enchanted by it!
you can find it here : ruclips.net/video/Jib3hNKgQ1E/видео.html
Really informative, thanks for talking about this!
Did any one notice that the real king has a musical box, and the music it’s the same music than the blind character that lives down the city is playing. Which make me think, where did the kind end up? It’s maybe the blind beggar? It’s so weird that they have the same music box
Saw this movie a few months ago, really amazing!
I regret not seeing it in the cinema when I had the chance a couple years ago, would of made for good first time viewing.
Would you do a behind the scenes video like this for The Secret of NIHM? I feel it’s a woefully underrated movie and certainly the best of the don bluth movies.
Thank you. I finally know this movie's name. There is a Courage the Cowardly Dog episode that has more than a few nods to this movie and it drove me nuts for years trying to find the original film it was referencing. Courage the Cowardly Dog is itself heavily influenced by surrealist ideas and themes.
Oh wow I never knew Courage made an ep inspired from King and the Mocking Bird, I used to watch that show all the time! Yeah especially with it's horror tendencies it was quite surreal using other mediums and all that.
What was the episode's name?
I often assumed the reason the two main characters were flat was because they just came to life and gained flesh and blood of their own. It takes time for a person and multiple drafts a work of art to gain it's own identity.
Lovely ❤
Will you ever consider the Russian animated movie “The hunchback Horse” and it’s 1977 remake movie “the Magic Pony”? The backstory of the making of those movies is quite interesting and the animation is pretty dang good for its time. 😊
This is my first exposure to both your work and the King and the Mockingbird, and I am extremely grateful for my introduction to both. Very well done, very informative and well scripted. Thank you very much. Have you considered doing something with Alice In Wonderland?
Got to stop putting off watching this one...
Great video btw.
Good job foreal
I wish you hadn't spoiled the whole plot of the movie but I appreciate the video though. I totally forgot about this movie.
2:42 this film in no way inspired Miyazaki when creating CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO
Great video
保毛太郎侍みたいだけど、こういう手描き風？なのはいいね。
Metropolis isn't surreal. It's a Science fiction German expressionist film. That scene from Metropolis you just showed is utilizing ART DECO. ART DECO can be seen through out the film but it isn't surrealism nor does that make it an art deco film....it's still a science fiction/ German expressionist film.
The newer scenes added to the film did take me out a bit given the sudden shift in quality between cuts. It's not as bad as say, the Looney Tunes movie Warner Bros. was putting out at the time, where trying to gel classic Golden Age footage with new material done by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and others that has a greater disparity of quality due to the age of said staff. Paul Grimault certainly had his hands full getting the look just right such as with the backgrounds in his revised edition. Animation isn't quite on 1's all the time but that's a minor quibble.
It's a minor enough change I'm glad he was able to finish it before digital animations came in. That would of been a severe change in quality like the redrawn frames in dragonball kai
I really like the artwork at 1:10. Could anyone tell me what it is?
Did that tower @5:05 inspire the tower where Clarisse is imprisoned in Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut feature film "Castle of Cagliostro"? They look soo similar!
Yes it did! Miyazaki was a huge fan, as with most of the staff who worked at Toei with him and would later make Castle of Cagliostro with him
I wouldn't doubt that at all.
Great review. I have been looking for an English version of what I knew as ‘Mr Bird to the Rescue’ for years. This was an English dubbed version of the 1980’s film. Do you know how where I can get one and what it would be called?
It's called "The King and the Mockingbird" and should be available on Amazon UK
I had the same “Mr Bird to the rescue “ movie on VHS.
I of course remember the king more than anything.
I’m hoping I have that VHS stored away somewhere
the king seems to look rather like Dali
WHY hasn't this ever been released in the US?
What's that music you're using in the background? I love it.
Music from the film. Watch it, it's incredibly poetic
what's the name of this soundtrack?
www.amazon.com/Roi-Loiseau-Wojciech-Kilar/dp/B00H2O1FB0/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1546203782&sr=8-1
bensilicate it almost sounded like Tapion’s Theme from Dragon Ball Z. Almost.
It's from the official soundtrack of the film
Where can I watch this film?! Been trying to find the movie for days now
Funny I was thinking the King was like Trump but then he turns out modeled on Nixon. That was freaky. Totally relevant for today's predicament.
Where can I find an english dub of the finished movie?
Please does someone know where to find his previous works? I wanna see those animated shorts!
It's available in Bluray in France : "Le Monde animé de Grimault"
I'm sorry, what is this beautiful song that was used?
It s the exceptionnel soubdtrack of this exceptionnel movie by the great Wojciech Kilar
How do you turn "paratonnerres" into "paramour"?
Is the original king not seen again after the duplicate king disposes of him
Whats music that you use in this video?
0:20 _Which led to him opening his own animation company - _*_Less Jemow_*
When uncertain as to the pronunciation, type it into Google Translate and let it say it out loud for you, for crying out loud!
Anyway. Go on...
I did this, I'm just a bad pronouncer of french words
Surely you'd have noticed, at least, that the _s_ was silent in _Les._
Anyway, that was my trivial nit pick on an otherwise great video.
Thank you and keep up the good work, sir. :-)
The recording process back when I did this was not a good one I was not confident reading in the booth.
When I got to a French word it involved stopping going on google translate , trying to read it 5 or 6 times, go back to the script fail a couple times rinse and repeat until I read the script again for take 2.
I'm trying to improve in pronunciation as I as I go, but I find the flow is also pretty important.
Finding the balance between stopping in my tracks to get the word as accurate as possible or trying to make the sentence sound as natural as possible.
But yah thanks for watching , I'm glad you enjoyed most of it outside that stuff ahah.
Stevem you should ask a friend to help you pronounce these things. French is only a difficult language to read if you try to read French in English. You listen to a correct French pronunciation, but then you paradoxically speak the French as if you are reading English text.
If you want an especially good example, consider the following: you pronounced voleur as voyeur. This is an innocent mistake, but a voleur is a thief, and a voyeur is someone who finds great arousal in covertly watching people in the nude.
Voyeur is also ironic here, as voyeur comes from the English misreading of the French voir, where voir means “to see.”
Harken Frank! A saxon is speaking
Could anyone tell me the name of the movie/animation of 1:35 to 1:37? EDIT: for anyone wondering, found it as part of the movie Arabian Knight "Thief and the cobbler chase scene"
Whoops I forgot to put that one in the description, just updated it I am working on a Thief and the Cobbler video that should come out by tomorrow
@Steven Where did you get the images to use, and finally extract them from 1m34s in your video?
Thanks for this video - I've never even heard of this movie! It'd be neat if Richard Williams had the opportunity to finish The Thief and the Cobbler.
Yeah im just finishing a video on richard, seems he has put the experience in the past now
Cool! Did you see Richard William's short film, Prologue, he released a couple of years ago? He wants to make it the first part of a larger movie. In terms of draftsmanship, it's gotta be up there with the best animated films.
I sent him a letter in the mail asking where I could find Prologue, I want to watch it I find Williams work shines brightest in the short format
yify.onl/watch-prologue-short-online-free-yify/
When this film was up for an award, it used to be available online in hd officially. But you can watch it via the above link, and probably find a high quality version on torrent or somewhere.
Ugh... This John K sexual harassment thing is bumming me out. :-( [sorry for the non-sequitur]
John K?
8:43 The true ending (in 1952) is better because it's not sad and i love the shepherdess and the chimney sweep,and the original movie called "Mr Wonderbird" is better than the reamke from 1980. It's my opinion. Too bad the original version is underrated!
That's fair, my point is more that the 1980 version was the artists vision. I do think the 1952 version has it's own merits in that it's a tighter film, too bad you can't get your hands on this version anymore. Outside of old VHS scans from Archive.org
I found the 1980 version better because of the greater inclusion of famous poet Prévert's dialogues, and for it's greater critic of human vices. The music also made it beautiful and added to the overall beauty. The 1980 ending also gave a more stunning message and gave us another perspective on the fairytale ending of the story
I'd be with you on that, although that would be granted, considering my position in the video.
That's true. people do have their opinions over which version they like the best, sometimes out of familiarity. I saw "Mr. Wonderbird" first before the other personally, the '52 release certainly had to go with a concrete ending that wraps it all up in a bow the way it is, while the '80 version chooses to be a little mysterious and thought-provoking of what we've seen (the theme of 'freedom' is certainly there, not only with the footsteps leading away from the ruins but also with one of the caged trap as well.
I only wish we had a decent copy of the '52 version than the same copy that's circulated for years.
Maybe someone could chop one together from the HD release of the 80s version?
What was the background music you used for this?
It's simply the OST : ruclips.net/video/lao-kcVOfsU/видео.html
Laurent M. THANK YOU!
It's from the official soundtrack of the film
It's probably the most powerful among all the "moving paintings".