Little Nicholas: A Delightful Rendering of a Beloved Character
Source: Buffalo 8 Productions
Happy 2023!
Little Nicholas (Le Petit Nicolas), directed by Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Mossubre, is an absolutely stunning and charming animated documentary about a renowned comic and children’s book hero brought vividly alive in France.
The Creators
On a lovely day in mid 1950’s Paris, illustrator Jean-Jacque Sempe wanted to create a new idea. He asked for a meeting with long time friend, writer/illustrator Rene Goscinny. The two tossed around ideas over red wine in a picturesque café and there was created the unforgettable rascal called Little Nicholas.
Sempe and Goscinny, both who experienced less than ideal childhoods, created Nicholas as the exemplary family they never had. A loving mom; a hard working father and a grandmother who dotes on and unabashedly spoils Nicholas. He lives a simple yet full existence for a child, abounding with imagination, school, friendship and mischief.
Source: Buffalo 8 Productions
The creators first published Nicholas in an obscure Belgian magazine. as a comic. It’s popularity soared, much to the creators surprise, and Little Nicholas flourished into a thriving book series. The film tells each of the creators stories broken up into picturesque segments, while sharing several lively episodes of Nicholas’s adventures between.
The film is an homage to Sempe and Goscinny and the wonder they created for the world.
In all Honesty…
Little Nicholas is absolute magic!
Nearly a decade in the making, filmmakers Fredon and Mossubre partnered with Goscinny’s daughter Anne, who wrote the film with Mossubre and Michel Fessler, honoring the work of two tremendous artists. Not only does it convey a great love for the creators, but also the creators love for the character and each other.
This is a story about friendship, chasing your dreams and keeping hope alive in dark times. Little Nicholas itself is a legacy of its passionate creators and this film brings to vivid life all of the beauty that these artists brought to the world.
Source: Buffalo 8 Productions
The animation is nothing short of spectacular. “Drawn” upon what looks like paper and colored with sumptuous watercolors that literally move and live on screen, the film evokes the comfort of children’s books of a passed on age. The colors are so muted and gentle it lulls the viewer into a sweet, warm embrace that flows exquisitely from scene to scene.
We fall in love with the joie de vie of Nicholas, taking in and relating to the childish nuances that many of us have in common in Western culture. We dance, play, learn and journey with him, wishing that real life was as reassuring, fantastical and delightful as we imagined it to be when we were children. The zest for life that Nicholas has, beckons us also to a time when we thought of life from a fresh, unencumbered perspective.
Every choice for the film is perfection. There isn’t any scene that seems misplaced or that feels unnecessary. From the meticulous drawing and coloring to the voices that bring each character to life, no detail is gratuitous or unenthusiastic. The animation and art departments should be lauded world wide for their extraordinary accomplishments.
Source: Buffalo 8 Productions
Little Nicholas is a reminder to us of the great things we can accomplish by working together. In a time when the world is growing exceedingly divisive and gasping for progression, it is easy to forget what and who we really are. The love that these artists put into this piece seeps through every single frame with elegance and abundance.
Let us draw from the passion and yearning of artists like these and fill the real world with the same consideration, color and loving intention to make Nicholas’s reality our reality.