Get ready for an exciting adventure in an unusual magical world!
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds is the first feature-length solo work by Benoît Chieux, an experienced artist.
The director's approach is truly unusual, as Chieux has managed to revive a picture book while preserving the "flatness" of the illustrations. The conscious rejection of shadows and volume presented the animation team with a non-trivial task, which was solved with the help of dynamic patterns and rich shades, geometry and gradients.
The world of Sirocco is a colorful space, open to all the winds of fantasy: both for children and older viewers.
What Is Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds About?
Juliette and Carmen are ordinary French girls whose mother coaches a boys' soccer team. When she has to leave for a competition, the sisters are left in the care of their neighbor, writer Agnes, who is working on a popular series of children's books about the Kingdom of the Winds.
The restless Juliette shakes a grumpy wooden doll out of the pages of an illustrated edition. The doll begins to draw a children's game with her finger to travel back to the magical land, and the curious sisters follow.
Now the sisters, who have been transformed into cats in the magical land, must find the powerful, unsociable wizard Sirocco – the only one who can bring them back to the human world.
Sirocco Is Inspired by Many Renowned Artists, Including Hayao Miyazaki
First of all, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds impresses with its colorful visual style. French animators try to create a bright and bizarre world that exists according to its own rules.
Benoît Chieux does not hesitate to create a visual narrative out of what inspires him: from the comics of Lyonel Feininger, Winsor McCay and the great Jean "Moebius" Giraud, whose surreal wastelands became a reflection of the human soul, to the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, the founders of the Ghibli studio.
The animation has many amazing flying machines, exciting scenes of flight and chase, as well as strange and funny creatures.
Sirocco Is Perfect for Kids as Well as for Their Parents
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds raises far from the simple topic of creativity and the boundlessness of children's imagination, growing up and accepting loss.
At the same time, Sirocco manages to avoid the didactic intonation that is so common in children's animations. The authors respect their viewers, whatever their age.
Where to Watch Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds?
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds is available to stream on Apple TV.