Introduction
Happy new year, fellow adventurers! I am Blaziker, and I am finally back to begin our various animated movie adventures of 2023!
First off, before we begin, you may notice I have renamed my reviews from “Blaziker Reviews Animation” to “Blaziker’s Animation Adventures”. That is because I realised that for the past few reviews of 2022, I somehow call each animated movie an adventure. That begs a question: Why not rename it? Plus, reviewing movies like a regular movie critic is not my style; I prefer to talk about them based on how much I enjoy that movie, which also explains the slight changes to my rating system.
Anyway, today I will be covering the first animated movie of 2023 that came out in late December, but because of the New Year celebrations in Malaysia, I only came back to watch that movie in Singapore.
Winner of the Cristal Award at the prestigious Annecy International Film Festival 2022, this adaptation is directed by Amandine Fredon who is making her debut as an animated movie director, as well as Benjamin Massoubre, the director of I Lost My Body (my most favourite animated movie of 2019). Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be depicts the origins of this legendary French comic and children’s book series through the eyes of its creators, illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempé (who recently passed away last year) and the late writer Rene Goscinny, their backstories and how this comic series came to be. While the movie showcases the various adventures of the mischievous Nicholas, the movie also shows Sempe’s and Goscinny’s aspiration as they collaborate to make more of the comics with the help of Little Nicholas himself.
I really enjoyed the diverse world of French animation. While not all animated movies from this country hit the mark, they are some of the most creative animated movies you will ever find in not just Europe, but the world over. As for whether Little Nicholas is yet another bullseye from a country passionate about animation, well, time to venture out for our first animated movie adventure of 2023!
Key Information
- Directors: Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre
- Animation Studios: On Classics (Mediawan), Bidibul Productions, Align and Gao Shan Pictures
- Countries of Origin: France, Luxembourg
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 29 December 2022 (In Singapore theatres)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
The story showcases two parts, with one part covering some adventures of Little Nicholas and his friends, and the other being a documentary about how Sempe and Goscinny created that series with inspiration from their respective backgrounds. Combining these two storylines is a challenge, especially for Goscinny’s daughter, Anne, who helped with the writing for this movie. Thankfully, it seems she inherited her father’s creative and technical writing prowess, because the script is easily brilliant.
The exposition on the origins of Little Nicholas is just the right amount such that you still get to enjoy the adventures of Little Nicholas and his friends, while also being educated on the story of this classic. As a result, there was not a single boring moment in sight. I also enjoyed the idea of Nicholas himself being part of the creative process as he interacted with Sempe and Goscinny over ideas for his next stories, making this movie very light-hearted. Speaking of the script, while the dialogue flows very well, it was certain lines and the line delivery in the movie that hit me, providing us important lessons on childhood, growing up and friendship, especially between Sempe and Goscinny. Expect emotions in the final 15 minutes of the movie.
Speaking of characters, we get to understand more about Sempe and Goscinny, the creators of the Little Nicholas series. We not only understand their backstory and how they first met, but also their friendship as they produce more of the Little Nicholas stories in the 1950s Paris. During their adventures, Nicholas himself join for a ride from the canvas, conversing with either Sempe or Goscinny, sometimes both. You get to understand a lot about the main characters without feeling bogged down, which makes them very memorable. It also helped that the voice acting is simple, but well-articulated and just the right tone for the lines these voice actors delivered.
I could not ask more for a French animated movie, and thankfully, the writing delivered in more ways than one. It was difficult balancing the storylines about the origins of Little Nicholas and the adventures of Nicholas and his friends, but somehow, Anne Goscinny and the rest of the writing team pulled it off.
Animation
One of the best aspects about French animation must be when they stick to their roots with 2D animation, and France is one of the few countries (outside of maybe Japan) that continues to produce a lot of great 2D, hand-drawn animated movies, despite producing a lot of 3D CG animated movies at the same time. While Little Nicholas is no exception, what impressed me is that there were two styles of 2D hand-drawn animation the animators executed and, just like with the writing, the animation team executed both styles expertly.
Like with the original book series, the animators used a more watercolour, sketch art-style when for Little Nicholas and during his scenes depicting his adventures, it looks like something out of the Little Nicholas books and unlike some 2D hand-drawn animation, some drawings do not look perfect, given we saw Sempe’s various sketches in the movie. With that said, that was a deliberate decision, as the simplistic designs are the most beautiful to look at. The combination of the simplistic drawings and watercolour backgrounds on Sempe’s sketches breathes life into the stories he and Goscinny produce together.
However, the scenes of the real world with Sempe and Goscinny in Paris were where the animators changed up the styling. It seems the animators drew inspiration from Sempe’s experience as an artist for The New Yorker, with more complex character designs, picturesque surroundings and well-defined strokes. The movie also showcased other artwork throughout Sempe’s career, including those used by Air France.
The fact that the animators used both styles skilfully is proof of the amount of effort these animators had to go through to ensure the beauty in the simplicity of Little Nicholas’ animation. This is one strength of 2D hand-drawn animation: it helps in making simplistic designs stand out compared to 3D CG animated movies.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
Given how much the real life Sempe enjoyed jazz, it is to no one’s surprise that the soundtrack chosen is French jazz, composed by Ludovic Bource. However, one particular song that echoes throughout the movie is Ray Ventura’s “Qu’est-ce qu’on attend pour être heureux?”, with jazz-inspired tracks performed by a jazz orchestra. It gives a Parisian feeling that transports moviegoers back to post-war France and while it may feel a bit old for the family audience, I actually felt the nostalgic hit that complements the classic feel of the movie.
While there is not much else to say about the other elements within Little Nicholas, I will say that this movie does feel patriotic for those that grew up reading those Little Nicholas books, given this was a French classic. It makes sense when you find out about Sempe’s past before he became an illustrator.
In terms of my level of enjoyment, let’s just say I was along for the ride. There was not a boring moment throughout is short 85-minute plus runtime, which was just right for me. The cinema was mostly packed due to the limited screenings in Singapore, and everyone had a blast with the movie. Honestly, given how much I watched a lot of CG animated movies, Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be is a huge reprieve from such repetition.
Conclusion
Well, what can I say? 2023 is off to an excellent start, thanks to this delightful French animated movie that is getting releases across the world right now.
Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be is simple, yet hilarious, heartfelt and important in showcasing the creative process of creating an icon that Sempe and Goscinny go through when creating this French comic classic. The story has some of the best use of exposition on the creators’ backstories and their inspiration behind the icon, while the witty comedy and dialogue complements the simplistic writing. The animation is simple, but beautiful and the soundtrack is catchy and effective. This movie was executed nearly perfectly, and shows why animation fans still respect French animation to this day.
Thank you so much for reading this review, and tune it next time where we venture out to find an alternate civilisation that is home to mummies, just in time for their celebration. I will see you on the next adventure and until then, k thanks bye!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Movie Rating
