Kirikou and the Sorceress

Kirikou and the Sorceress (Kirikou et la sorcière, 1998) is Michel Ocelot's animated feature drawn from West African folk tales, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A tiny boy who speaks from inside his mother's womb sets out to face the sorceress terrorizing his village.

Kirikou is born already walking and talking, and he gets straight to work. The sorceress Karaba has dried up the village spring and made every man vanish, all but one last warrior. The little boy tags along behind him down the road of fiery trees and slowly pieces together what the grown-ups cannot: where Karaba's cruelty and power actually come from. He burrows underground, climbs a mountain to seek his wise grandfather, and finally asks the one question nobody else dared to ask.

The hand-drawn artwork takes its cues from African painting and carving, and Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour wrote the score. Ocelot refused to sand the story down to fit the usual mold: there is nudity, true to tradition, and a moral far subtler than good simply beating evil. Seventy minutes that hold children and adults alike. Stream Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998) online on iFILM.