''Zarafa'' is a 2012 French-Belgian animated film directed by
Rémi Bezançon
Rémi Bezançon (born 25 March 1971) is a French director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Rémi Bezançon studied at the École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle (ESRA) in Paris and the École du Louvre.
In 2005, he released his f ...
and Jean-Christophe Lie. It was released on 8 February 2012 in France. The story was inspired by a historical giraffe known today as
Zarafa.
Plot
The film is
framed by a village elder (
Vernon Dobtcheff
Vernon Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a British actor, best known for his roles on television and film, he has acted in numerous stage productions.
Biography
Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Prep ...
)
telling a story to a group of eager children.
Set in the early 19th Century, the story tells of Maki (
Max Renaudin), a ten-year-old orphaned Sudanese boy who has been sold into
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
with his friend Soula. He escapes the villainous slave trader Moreno (
Thierry Frémont
Thierry Frémont (born 24 July 1962) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1984. He starred in the 1991 film ''Fortune Express'', which was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.
...
) and comes across a young giraffe and its mother. Moreno catches up to Maki and kills the mother giraffe. Maki promises the calf's mother that he'll protect and nurture her. Just as Moreno is about to take him to his slave camp, Hassan, a
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
nomad (
Simon Abkarian
Simon Abkarian (Armenian language, Armenian: Սիմոն Աբկարյան, born March 5, 1962) is a French-Armenian actor.
Life and career
Born in Gonesse, Val d'Oise, of Armenians, Armenian descent, Abkarian spent his childhood in Lebanon. ...
), intervenes and saves his life. Maki follows Hassan as soon as he takes the giraffe with him. Hassan names the giraffe
Zarafa (Arabic for "giraffe") and reluctantly agrees to take care of Maki and Zarafa. They come across a merchant, Mahmoud, who gives them two
Tibetan cows, Mounh and Sounh. Maki discovers Soula being forced into slave labor by Moreno. When the evil man turns his attention on Maki, Soula hits him with a palm leaf, but before Moreno can beat her with his whip, Maki cries out for her and Hassan steps in. Maki thanks Hassan for saving him.
Hassan is on a mission to the Pasha of Egypt,
Mehemet Ali
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...
, who wants to offer a young giraffe to the King of France,
Charles X
Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...
, to convince him to unite his country against the Ottomans besieging Alexandria. Maki and Hassan join together with the
aeronaut
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...
Malaterre (
François-Xavier Demaison), who agrees to take Zarafa to Paris via a hot air balloon. Hassan convinces Maki to leave Zarafa, but Malaterre thinks otherwise, seeing Maki's determination, and takes the boy with them. The basket gets heavy, so the cows jump overboard, and Hassan unwittingly tosses Maki after them, as Maki is hidden in a bale of hay. Maki and the two cows land on a pirate ship, where they come across the pirate queen Bouboulina and her ragtag crew. Maki explains that he is in pursuit of a treasure of great value aboard the balloon. Instead of taking him prisoner, Bouboulina welcomes Maki to her crew. Meanwhile, Moreno is determined to hunt down Maki and arrives on shore with Soula in tow. Bouboulina and her crew rescue Maki and scare off Moreno and his henchmen. The group continues on their journey. During a perilous crossing of the mountains where the balloon crashed, one of the cows is taken by a pack of wolves.
Hassan, Maki, Malaterre, and the surviving cow eventually reach Paris. The cynical King Charles accepts the gift but refuses to help the Pasha. Zarafa is shut away in
the city zoo, and Maki stays firm about returning the giraffe to her home. Moreno kidnaps him and forces him to work in his household. Hassan is ashamed that he had failed his mission and mortified to have lost Maki, so he sinks into despair and alcohol. As several years pass, Zarafa's appearance causes "giraffe mania" and she grows up. Maki finds himself at zoo with Soula. King Charles is receiving a new hippopotamus, and, remembering an experience he had with one before meeting Hassan, Maki tells Soula to hold up her parasol. Maki does the same and the hippo squirts a colossal pile of dung onto King Charles and his subjects, giving the children enough time to make a getaway. They manage to find Malaterre and Maki plans to escape with Zarafa in the hot air balloon. The trio locate Hassan, but the nomad is unable to help them, since he has become an alcoholic. They rush to free Zarafa, but now she is too large to fit into the balloon. Maki realizes that he must give up Zarafa and escape with Soula. Moreno appears and prepares to kill Maki, but Hassan steps in to protect them and is shot. Aided by Malaterre, Maki and Soula escape in the balloon. Moreno gives chase, but the two friends bite him and he falls off the basket and into an enclosure where he is devoured by a polar bear. Maki and Soula return home, marry, and found a flourishing new village. Hassan, treated at the hospital, survives his wounds and falls in love with Bouboulina.
As it turns out, the storyteller is actually Maki himself.
Voice cast
French version
*
Max Renaudin as Maki
*
Simon Abkarian
Simon Abkarian (Armenian language, Armenian: Սիմոն Աբկարյան, born March 5, 1962) is a French-Armenian actor.
Life and career
Born in Gonesse, Val d'Oise, of Armenians, Armenian descent, Abkarian spent his childhood in Lebanon. ...
as Hassan
*
Sjaak Caderyn as Hassan
*
Abraham Adesoye as Pika
*
François-Xavier Demaison as Malaterre
*
Vernon Dobtcheff
Vernon Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a British actor, best known for his roles on television and film, he has acted in numerous stage productions.
Biography
Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, of Russian descent. He attended Ascham Prep ...
as Le vieux sage
*
Roger Dumas as Charles X
*
Ronit Elkabetz
Ronit Elkabetz ( he, רונית אלקבץ; 27 November 1964 – 19 April 2016) was an Israeli actress, screenwriter and film director. She worked in both Israeli and French cinema. She won three Ophir Awards and received a total of seven nomin ...
as Bouboulina
*
Mohamed Fellag
Mohamed Fellag (born 31 March 1950 in Azeffoun, Tizi Ouzou) is an Algerian comedian, writer, humorist, and actor. In 1958, at the height of the Algerian war of independence, his father took him and his younger brother, for their safety, to stay w ...
as Mahmoud
*
Déborah François
Déborah François (; born 24 May 1987) is a Belgian actress. She is best known for her starring role in the Palme d'Or-winning film, '' The Child'' (2005), directed by the Dardenne brothers. In 2009, she won a César Award for Most Promising A ...
as Zarafa adulte
*
Thierry Frémont
Thierry Frémont (born 24 July 1962) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1984. He starred in the 1991 film ''Fortune Express'', which was entered into the 41st Berlin International Film Festival.
...
as Moreno
*
Dazzy Iannuzzio Bogo
*
Madigan Kacmar as Traore
*
Philippe Morier-Genoud
Philippe Morier-Genoud (born 2 March 1944) is a French theatre and film actor.
Selected filmography
* ''Confidentially Yours'' (1983)
* ''Au revoir les enfants'' (1987)
* ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' (1990)
* '' Safe Conduct'' (2002)
* '' A Private Af ...
as Saint-Hilaire
English version
*
Joe Ochman
Joe Ochman is an American actor who is most active in voice over roles in various animation shows, films, and video games. He is the fourth and current voice of Jiminy Cricket since 2014.
Filmography Live-action
* '' Adventures in Voice Acting' ...
as Malaterre (as B.J. Oakie)
*
Chinua B. Payne as Lumba
*
Mike Pollock as Zuma
*
Clara Quilichini as Soula
*
Scott Rayow
Scott Rayow, often credited as Scottie Ray, is an American voice actor who has worked for NYAV Post, DuArt Film and Video, 4Kids Entertainment and Central Park Media. He is best known for voicing The Shredder
''The'' () is a grammatical art ...
as Moreno (as Scottie Ray)
*
Cindy Robinson
Cindy Robinson is an American voice actress who voices in animations and video games. Some of her major roles are Makoto Nanaya and Gii from the ''Blazblue'' series, Betty Boop in commercials, Queen Beryl in '' Sailor Moon'', Chitose Nanbu in ...
as Bouboulina
*
Erica Schroeder
Erica Schroeder (born April 27, 1975),https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=828626443878803&id=164914246916696 sometimes credited as Bella Hudson, is an American voice actress, best known for her role as Ilvira in the Netflix animate ...
as Zarafa
*
Jason Simon
Jason Simon (born March 21, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Simon, who is from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, Ontario, played five games in the National Hockey League for the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Isl ...
as Charles X
*
Zariah Singletary as Deka
*
Michael Sorich
Michael John Sorich ( , born March 23, 1958) is an American actor, writer and director.
Biography
Sorich has been a prominent and ever-present voice actor for many different characters in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise (until the end of the '' W ...
as Mahmoud
*
Joel Stigliano as Pacha
*
Mostéfa Stiti as Pacha
*
Raeusi Uraeus as Maki
*
Wayne Grayson
Vincent "Vinnie" Penna Jr, who has primarily performed using the stage name Wayne Grayson, is an American voice actor and director primarily known for his work at 4Kids Entertainment, Central Park Media, Media Blasters, NYAV Post and DuArt Film a ...
as Demis
*
Nýa-Jolie Walters as Soula
Background and controversy
The film was based on the historical event, of the
Giraffe given to Charles X of France by Muhammad Ali of Egypt, and Rémi Bezançon wanted to make a film of it as soon as he heard about it, and was also keen to explore the issue of slavery in a film.
The film was accused of distorting the historical facts about how the giraffe was treated, and the
Museum d'histoire naturelle
The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...
created a temporary exhibition entitled ''The True story of Zarafa'' to present its own version of history.
But mostly it received positive reviews from critics.
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
{{Rémi Bezançon
2010s French animated films
2012 animated films
2012 films
Belgian animated films
Pathé films
Films directed by Rémi Bezançon
Fictional giraffes
Animated films about mammals
2010s children's animated films
2010s French-language films
French-language Belgian films