Kirikou and the Sorceress (French: Kirikou et la Sorcière, [kiʁiku e la sɔʁsjɛʁ]) is a 1998 French-language animated adventure fantasy film written and directed by Michel Ocelot. Drawn from elements of West African folk tales,^[4] it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba. The film was originally released on 9 December 1998.^[5] It is a co-production between companies in France (Exposure, France 3 Cinema, Les Armateurs, Monipoly, Odec Kid Cartoons), Belgium (Radio-Télévision belge) and Luxembourg (Studio O, Trans Europe Film) and animated at Rija Films' studio in Latvia and Studio Exist in Hungary.^[1][5]

It was so successful that it was followed by Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages, released in 2005, and adapted into a stage musical, Kirikou et Karaba, first performed in 2007.^[6] Another follow-up, Kirikou et les hommes et les femmes, was released in late 2012.^[7]

In a little West African village, an unusual boy named Kirikou is born, who can speak before birth and walk immediately after birth. After Kirikou's mother tells him that an evil sorceress, Karaba, has dried up their spring and eaten all the men of the village except for one, he decides to accompany the last warrior, his uncle, to visit her and try to stop her.

Kirikou manages to trick the sorceress and save his uncle by waiting inside his uncle's hat and pretending that it is magic. Additionally, he saves the village's children from being kidnapped both by the sorceress's boat and tree, and kills the monster who was drinking all the village's water, gaining trust and stature in the eyes of the previously skeptical villagers. With the help of his mother and various animals, Kirikou then evades Karaba's watchmen and travels into a forbidden mountain to ask his wise old grandfather about the sorceress.

His grandfather tells him that she is evil because she suffers from a poisoned thorn in her back, which causes her great pain and also gives her great power. After learning this, Kirikou manages to take the sorceress's stolen gold, thus luring her outside to where he can trick her and extract the poisoned thorn. As a result, the sorceress is cured of her suffering, and she kisses Kirikou, who then becomes an adult.

When Kirikou and Karaba arrive back at the village, no one believes that the sorceress is cured until a procession of drummers arrive with Kirikou's grandfather. The drummers turn out to be the sorceress's watchmen and henchmen restored to their original human forms, the missing men of the village, whom she hadn't eaten after all.

The film is a co-production of Les Armateurs, Trans Europe Film, Studio O, France 3 cinéma, RTBF and Exposure in France, Odec Kid Cartoons in Belgium and Monipoly in Luxembourg.^[1] It was animated at Rija Films' animation studio in Latvia and Studio Exist in Hungary, with backgrounds painted at Les Armateurs and Paul Thiltges' animation studio, Tiramisu, in Luxembourg, digital ink and paint and compositing by Les Armateurs and Odec Kid Cartoons in Belgium and voices and music recorded in Senegal.^[8]

The original French voice acting was performed by a cast of West African actors and schoolchildren and recorded in Dakar. The English dubbing, also directed by Ocelot, was made in South Africa.^[3] A dub of the film in the Swahili language was produced in Tanzania in 2009 through the help of the Danish Film Institute (DFI) and John Riber of Media for Development in Dar es Salaam.^[9]

The film contains many instances of nudity that reflect the non-sexualized view of the human body in the West African culture depicted. This was controversial enough in the U.S. and the U.K. to prevent its release.^[10][11][12] Eventually, the British Film Institute gave the film a few screenings in the U.K., and in the U.S. specialist distributor Artmattan released it to a small but appreciative African-American audience.^[10][12]

The film has been licensed by distributors in numerous countries, including:

• Argentina – Prodifilms
• Brazil – Cult Filmes (VHS), Paulinas Multimídia (DVD)
• Canada – Remstar Distribution
• Denmark – Angel Films A/S
• France – Gébéka Films
• Germany – MFA Filmdistribution
• Italy – Mikado Film
• Japan – Albatros Film (2003, theatrical), Ghibli Cinema Library/Buena Vista Home Entertainment (DVD/VHS)
• Russia – RUSCICO (2004, video)
• Spain – Alta Classics S.L. Unipersonal
• United Kingdom – British Film Institute
• United States – ArtMattan Productions (2000, dubbed)

Kirikou, developed by Étranges Libellules for the Playstation, Planet Interactive for the Game Boy Color and Krysalide for the Microsoft Windows.

Music for the film was created by Senegalese artist Youssou N'dour. The ending theme for the film is called "Kirikou by Boubacar Mendy", released on Virgin EMI.