Interest

The King and the Mockingbird Cinema Release

From Friday April 11, there will be a cinema release of The King and the Mockingbird, a French fantasy cartoon which was a major influence on Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, it is the surreal tale of two children who are chased through a gigantic castle, pursued by a wicked king and helped by a friendly mockingbird.

The film will tour venues in the UK and Ireland on different dates in April and May; there is a list of upcoming venues here. At present, the film is due to screen in multiple venues in London, plus Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Dumfries, Edinburgh, Fishguard, Glasgow, Inverness, Leeds, Leicester, Maidenhead, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Northampton, Nottingham, Penarth, Sheffield and St. Albans. Some of the screenings will be dubbed in English, while others will be in French with subtitles.

A version of the film was released in the 1950s as The Shepherdess and the Sweep (aka The Curious Adventures of Mr Wonderbird). Takahata and Miyazaki have both acknowledged the film's deep influence on them, especially on Miyazaki's Castle of Cagliostro. In the above trailer, Takahata is quoted as saying, "If I had not seen this film, I would have never imagined entering the world of animation."

In fact, the 1950s film was disowned by its French director, Paul Grimault, who had been removed from the project. After a long fight to reclaim the film, he was able to create a revised version, which combines old and new scenes. It is this version, first released in France in 1980, which will tour the UK and Ireland as The King and the Mockingbird.