Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for yet another animation adventure, and today, we are about to go way deep into awards season as we cover perhaps one of the big contenders for the Best Animated Feature category, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain!
Based on a memoir by Belgian writer Amelie Nothomb about her time living with her Belgian family in Japan, Little Amelie explores a three-year-old version of herself growing up in Japan as she explores nature, her housekeeper and her discovery of chocolate that ignited her curiosity over the real world.
Little Amelie turned heads during its debut at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, resulting in critical acclaim and praise as more people discovered a movie produced by first-time directors based on a lesser-known novel, to a point where it is in contention to win Best Animated Feature at some of the biggest awards. In fact, the hype behind it was honestly too good to be true… or is it the real deal?
Well, only one way to find out, time to get some chocolate as we explore Little Amelie’s world!
Key Information
- Directors: Mailys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang
- Animation Studio: Maybe Movies, 2 Minutes and Goodfellas Animation
- Country of Origin: France
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 13 November 2025 (in Singapore as part of the French Film Festival Singapore 2025)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
I came into the very first screening of Little Amelie that I was able to book, knowing its critical acclaim in its Cannes and Annecy Film Festival debuts, not to mention this quaint movie getting showered with endless praise from critics and moviegoers from around the world alike. I have not seen the original novel (I wanted to, but some of my friends who saw the movie before me recommend me to see the movie first before the book) and I had only seen the trailer a couple of times, so I am essentially heading into this movie kind of blind. After seeing it, I feel the hype… was an understatement because way more people need to see it!
Where do I begin with the writing? There are so many things I wanted to talk about it, but knowing there are a good number of readers that have yet to see it, let’s just say this movie about a Belgian girl growing up in Japan as she discovered the gifts life has to offer is way more than that. Normally, family-friendly animated movies, especially the foreign-produced ones, are usually not that complex; they tend to be simple most of the time, are generally comedic adventures and do not get a lot of story and character development. Here, this is the polar opposite of the typical family-friendly foreign animated movie.
Despite its short runtime of about 75 minutes, which is a lot less than the average 90-minute runtime for typical animated movies, Little Amelie was able to explore so many elements that were so perfectly executed. The writing is without a doubt one of the best screenplays of any movie this year, let alone animated movies. It takes a lot of guts to have such a comprehensive and well-developed storyline with this short runtime, and while the writing could have been overwhelming, the writing is anything but; this movie takes a few elements and explore those few elements so well. This movie focuses on Little Amelie herself, her family, her caretaker and the world around her, and every story element is so well-developed and perfectly paced.
This is the complete opposite of the usually shallow and underdeveloped stories for most family-friendly foreign animated movies, especially the many family-friendly foreign CG animated movies I had covered because of the over-reliance on the Americanisation of those movies. I knew such top-tier family-friendly foreign animated movies had existed this year with Jumbo and The Songbird’s Secret, but with Little Amelie, those two felt amateurish in comparison.
We also need to talk about the characters because the characters carried the already perfect writing so well too. Of course, I have to give a shout-out to Amelie herself (voiced by Loise Charpentier, who already impressed me with her voice acting performance of Juliette in Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds, my most favourite family-friendly foreign animated movie before this). Her boundless charm, joy and curiosity carried the entire movie, and you feel the various emotions and curiosity she felt throughout the movie, since you are following the movie through her lens. We had seen animated movies starring children as the heroes, but never as wide-eyed, charming and so well-rounded as Amelie. Her innocence shone, and the more you explored her world, the more you fell in love with her.
Of course, Amelie herself was not the only standout, since we also need to talk about her Japanese caretaker, Nishio-san (Victoria Grobois), who was also a standout. Her carefree and fun nature complement Amelie’s personality, making such a fantastic pairing. There was one moment about her that I will not spoil, but that moment when she talked to Amelie about a certain event might be one of the best moments of any animated movie this year. You can tell she was deeply impacted by it, and yet she explained that event to Amelie with so much care without sugar-coating said event, a risky balancing act that paid off. The rest of Amelie’s family and their mean-looking landlord in Kashima-san (Yumi Fujimori) all have their moments and contribute to the movie too.
It really is something when the writers involved dedicate a lot of time and care to produce such a very comprehensive and delightful story in spite of its time constraints, and that is what I feel about Little Amelie’s writing. With only a few exceptions, the writing is incomparable compared to other family-friendly foreign animated movies. It is in a league of its own.
Animation
The writing alone is worth the admission ticket, but the animation is also as impressive and unique as the writing itself.
When it comes to a lot of the great quality family-friendly foreign animated movies, especially those from France, a common element is that the animation in those top-tier animated movies are quite different from the usual generic-looking computer-generated animation styles from most family-friendly animated movie. Even if the quality of a few of these movies are great, there is something about the non-CG animation styles, especially hand-drawn ones such as in Little Amelie’s case, that can produce unique feeling styles that CG animation simply cannot replicate. With the worrying rise of A/I generated “animation”, even the best CG works from amazing animators can be mistaken for being “A/I generated”, especially the Americanised-looking CG animated movies from foreign countries, which I talked about previously. That is why more animators are embracing more non-CG animation styles, and with Little Amelie, this is further proof of that because the animation looks impeccable!
First off, the animation is simply vibrant without feeling too overwhelming. In fact, even by 2D hand-drawn animation standards, the animation was something special, as the animators went for a more colourful and pastel approach to its design, which is fitting for an animated movie about a child’s imagination about the world. You want a very imaginative animation style that plays to the imagination of the children’s audience, and while the animation style in Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds executed that to perfection, Little Amelie just one up that movie, simply because the painted style of animation just felt more imaginative and more appropriate for a family-friendly animated movie.
Additionally, besides the animation being so unique and colourful, the animation also works in its surrealistic visual storytelling. As a young child, we often see things differently as we are exploring different elements for the first time, so the animation has to fit into that imagination; thankfully, the animation is very well-executed in providing this surreal nature of some animation sequences, especially during some of the more emotional sequences. The style makes a harmonious distinction between Amelie’s imagination and her reality come to life, so this movie is amazing in terms of substance on top of the already unique style.
Honestly, there are just too many things to say about the movie’s wonderful animation, and if you see it in theatres, the overall animation style stands out even more. Hence, I urge everyone to see Little Amelie to witness the animation style in its most glorious.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
The soundtrack is calm and charming, combining traditional Japanese sounds with a slightly whimsical score that heightens the story and animation to great effect. I love a simple music score that does its job, and here, I feel not enough people are talking about how great the soundtrack is , which is a bit of a shame.
As for my level of enjoyment, I think my overall thoughts on the writing and animation should tell you how much I really love this movie. I covered a lot of family-friendly foreign animated movies and honestly, not a lot of them are great enough for me to recommend, but with Little Amelie, it is a very easy recommend! I honestly wish fewer family-friendly animated movies would go the Americanisation route, and instead embrace more diverse and interesting stories that families and animation buffs like me can enjoy together. When animated movies focus on producing better quality animated movies than stoop low to their target audience, you get amazing animated movies that would convince more moviegoers to support more animation, and that would make the animation industry even more interesting. Seriously, I don’t want to be a broken record, but animation studios need to take notice, stop accepting the mediocrity of most family-friendly animation in general, and focus on being their true selves and producing art like this.
Conclusion
Well, it finally happened. After about 8 months at the top, Ne Zha 2 has just been dethroned as my most favourite animated movie of 2025 so far, because Little Amelie or the Character of Rain is something very, very special indeed.
It is very rare for a family-friendly animated movie to be this revolutionary, especially for one produced outside of the big Hollywood animation studios and directed by first-time directors. However, it is these reasons that are why Little Amelie is such a one-of-a-kind animated movie that shook me to the very core. This is an animated movie that is almost nothing like any other family-friendly foreign animated movie before, in the very best way possible.
Little Amelie is such a delight to behold thanks to its very bold and comprehensive approach to the showcase of a child’s curiousity from a young age. This is an animated movie that goes very far into providing such a deeply emotional masterpiece filled with endless joy and mature storytelling that treats its audience with its utmost respect. The characters are all fun and well-developed and the pacing is on point despite its short runtime. The animation is not just unique and colourful, but also well-crafted and beautiful with a unique hand-painted look that is nothing like the usual generic computer-generated animation from regular family-friendly animated movies. The soundtrack is simple, but very memorable and of great quality as well, and overall, I was nearly emotional by the end of the movie, especially given the standing ovation the audience gave.
It takes something very different and unique to produce such a fantastic family-friendly animated movie that stands out compared to the rest of the competition, but that was exactly what happened with Little Amelie or the Character of Rain. Such a deeply profound and emotional masterpiece from a debutant team that is nothing short of brilliant. Keep an eye out of this wonder when this releases in theatres near you!
Thank you so much for joining me on this epic adventure. We are still not done with the standalone reviews because after Japan, we are returning to a very familiar place, a place filled with talking animals where anyone can be anything, and there may be more than just the typical mammals we are familiar with because… We are tracking down a snake!
I will see you on the next adventure and until next time, see you on the next adventure!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
