Kirikou And The Wild Beast (2005) Re-Released On DVD With English Subtitles

Hey Black Family,

I absolutely LOVE the character KIRIKOU because he's a tough, tough little brutha who has heart!! And funny, too!! A definite inspiration for the African Diaspora when you see him in action.

I originally found out or stumbled onto Kirikou when I was looking at a BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) flyer and saw an animated thumbnail of Kirikou. I thought to myself "Oh, this is interesting. An African animated character as a protagonist". So, I decided to go check it and was pleasantly and thoroughly superposed by this gem that I saw. ANd I actually took it to an ADODI summer retreat to show it as part of the ADODI Film Fest that I created and curated some years and t went over very well. Bruthaz responded to the film very favorably. Kirikou is accessible for kids and equally for adults, too!! Trust me!

As a Black kid growing up in NYC during the 1970s and looking at Saturday morning cartoons religiously, I noticed there were very, very few cartoon characters that looked like me or had my dark skin complexion. The only Black characters that come to mind off the top of my head as I type this are Mighty Man from Mighty Man and Yukk and Black Vulcan (pictured to the right here with his qool, qool costume) from the Super Friends tv series. And there was the qool super villain the Moon Man from The New Adventures of Batman cartoon series.

Anyway, the original all French version of Kirikou et les betes sauvages (translates in English to Kirikou And The Wild Beast [2005]) that I currently own on DVD is French spoken and has French subtitles. This version was released by Alliance Atlantic Vivia Films/Remstar and has a running time of 75 minutes.

Even though I couldn't understand what the characters were saying I could still pretty much follow the storyline and what was going on. Because I'm a big Kirikou fan it didn't stop me from buying this version; most English speaking people probably would not have bought this DVD.

Now, Kirikou And The Wild Beast (2005) has been re-released on DVD by Kino Films which is still spoken in French, however, this version accompanies English subtitles with a running time of 95 minutes; that's 20 minutes longer!!! The aspect ratio is 1.85:1 and enhanced for 16:9 television monitors.

You can pick up a copy of Kirikou And The Wild Beast at
Amazon.com for $22.49
DeepDiscount.com for $11.99

I just placed an order with Deep Discount (can't knock their excellent price point) who is a reputable e-commerce website. I have been ordering from them for about 9 years now so they are trustworthy. They also offer FREE shipping as one of their 4 methods of shipment.

The above prices are subject to change / fluctuate at anytime.

NOTE: Parental guidance for children viewing is suggested.Women are shown in traditional attire (sarongs only) and children wear no clothing. I personally don't think it's a big deal for children to see at all (even if I had children), and one has to realize this particular film art is not rooted in American traditions of western values (aka Disney films); but, hey, everybody is different, so just giving you a heads up.

Also, below is a 10 minute clip so you can get a feel for the film. I LOVE Kirikou! You go boy!