I watched this a lot when I was younger, like 2-4. It both entertained me and scared me. I'm not sure wether or not I'd recommend this. Its a good animation and story, but its also a bit odd. Also, I only watched it in the French translation. I don't speak French.

The movie Kirikou and the Sorceress is a traditional African story shown to the public in a great way that is easy for all to understand. Not only is the story plainly displayed for the audience, but the use of color and artistry show the positive and negative actions of the characters. It is easy to see that tradition is displayed as all that is good while modernity in dark colors is obviously not highly esteemed. Though traditional for other audiences, this film shows a hero that is unlikely here in America. Aside from being small, intelligent, and courageous, Kirikou is virtuous and seeks to help Karaba rather than to destroy her. Everything that Kirikou does is in order to help others. He does not simply seek to improve his own situation, he wants his village to prosper and to return everyone safely. Overall, I think that this is a great film for families in many cultures and I really enjoyed it. Once the parents can see past cartoon nudity they will be able to see the positive ideas that are projected in this story. Kirikou is a great role model for future generations. He is able to embrace some change while strongly holding on to his traditions, and seeks to help others that challenge him rather than to destroy them. He also shows that courage, honor, and intelligence can potentially be held in any hero. You don't have to be large to be strong and you don't have to be ugly and small to be intelligent.

I really liked watching Kirikou and the Sorceress because the story was a classic struggle against evil. The hero is about as unlikely as they come (how many newborn babies match wits with sorceresses?) he's brave, and kind, and smart, and sometimes he feels "a little small and frightened." What I love best about Kirikou as a hero is that he is a child. Kirikou tells his grandfather that he would like to be grownup so that he can defeat the sorceress, but his grandfather tells him that "none of the grown-ups succeeded." The story of Kirikou and the Sorceress was beautifully told. I didn't notice the soundtrack very much, but when I did notice the music it was quiet and pleasant to listen to. Even though the songs with words are earworms that got stuck in my head, those were also pleasant to listen to. The animation makes me think of watercolor paintings. The pictures on the screen are fairly sparse, the village scenes don't have a lot of added details, the plants are stylized, and the people are mostly outlined blocks of color, but this is perhaps the strength of the animation. I think this reflects the simplicity of the story, it isn't supposed to be a really complicated story, just what matters.I would recommend this movie to people who are invested in the concept of story and suggest that they consider the differences in classic American story (descended from European story) and classic African story.

Kirikou et la Sorciere was about an infant that had to fight the Sorceress in order to save his village. He uses courage to do so and he showed that size didn't matter. The most interesting theme of the movie was tradition VS modernity.In the movie Kirikou's village was one of the major settings. The village was very traditional. The men were the brave ones and the women were the scarred home makers. The women took over the care of the home and the children. The men went to fight the Sorceress. The men fought the Sorceress to prove themselves like the men in Kirikou's family did. The women in the village wore very traditional clothing too. They didn't wear shirts or shoes, but they did wear long wrap skirts around their waists. The men only wore short skirts. The village lighting was bright and warm.Another major setting was the Sorceress's land. Outside of the Sorceress's hut there were modern fetishes that protected the hut and the Sorceress. They were very modern. They were like robots. The Sorceress also wore a lot of Jewelry. She had a lot of gold because she took it away from the villagers. She was brave and strong like a man which isn't traditional in the village. At first she also didn't want to marry which again isn't traditional. She wore a wrap like the people in the village but it was gold instead of the earthy tones of the women's skirts in the village. The Sorceress's land was light in a way that looked dark and cold.In the end tradition wins. Kirikou returns to the village with the Sorceress. He makes her his girlfriend. She gives into tradition because she wants to be with a man instead of by herself like she used to. The men that the Sorceress "ate" were also freed and they returned to the village to the waiting women. The Sorceress isn't as powerful as she had been. She was able to make Kirikou a man, but that was about it. She was a woman so traditionally she would make her significant other a man. Other than that she had no power like the women in the village. The Sorceress gives up modernity and returns to the traditional village. The whole story is very interesting because of the theme of modernity VS tradition. I would recommend this film to anyone person interested in films that take a closer look at the struggle between tradition and modernity. All together the movie was very enjoyable because of the themes and because of the comical dialect. I will be watching more movies like this in the future.