Paul Grimault


Paul Grimault was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical.
His most important work is Le Roi et l'oiseau, which ultimately took over 30 years to produce. He began it as La Bergère et le Ramoneur in 1948, and it was highly anticipated, but Grimault's partner André Sarrut showed the film unfinished in 1952, against Grimault's wishes. This caused a rift between partners and a stop in production. In 1967, Grimault got possession of the film and subsequently was able to complete it in 1980 under a new title, Le Roi et l'oiseau, incorporating some footage from the original and re-hiring the original animators, together with some new, younger ones. There are many names for it in English that have been used in various releases, including: The King and the Bird, The King and the Mockingbird, The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird and The King and Mr. Bird.
He also collected his best shorts in a retrospective compilation movie, La table tournante, which is included in the deluxe edition of Le Roi et l'oiseau. For a detailed bibliography, see this reference.

Les Gémeaux

In 1936 Grimault founded, with André Sarrut, Les Gémeaux, which was the second significant French animation venture, following the work of Émile Cohl, which had closed years earlier. During World War II, American films being unavailable, its films found a captive audience. The studio produced a number of shorts, then closed its doors in 1952 following the expense of making La Bergère et le Ramoneur, which was the first feature-length French animated movie.

Other work

Grimault was part of the agitprop group Groupe Octobre. At this group he met Jacques Prévert, with whom he went on to collaborate on several animated films, most notably ''Le roi et l'oiseau.''

Filmography

Grimault's filmography is as follows; those included in the retrospective La table tournante are marked with a star.
Feature length:
Short:Monsieur Pipe fait de la peinture, 1936 Les phénomènes électriques, 1937Le messager de la lumière, 1938 *L'enchanteur est enchanté, 1938Les passagers de "La Grande Ourse", 1939–1941 *Le marchand de notes, 1942 *La Machine à explorer le temps, 1942 L’épouvantail, 1943 *Le voleur de paratonnerres, 1944 *Niglo reporter, 1945 La flûte magique, 1946 *Le petit Soldat, 1947 * La Légende de la soie, 1950 * Pierres oubliées, 1952Enrico cuisinier, 1956 La faim du monde, 1957/58 Le petit Claus et le grand Claus, 1964Le diamant, 1970 * with Jacques Prevert, complement to L'Aveu of Costa-GavrasLe chien mélomane, 1973 * with Jacques PrevertLe fou du Roi, 1987–1988 *
Commercials:
  • Le Messenger de la Lumière – for a light shop
  • La Légende de la Soie – paid for by the silk industry
  • Sain et Sauf – for Danon yogurt
  • Terre! – for an optician
Other work:La séance de spiritisme
  • Two animated TV pilots, 1970
  • Animated sequences projected during the show C'est la guerre, Monsieur Gruber by Jacques Sternberg, at the Odeon theater, during the Comédie-Française

Legacy