Zarafa [DVD]

I can't speak highly enough of this beautiful film. Ages 3 through 60s+ all enjoyed it, we watched it over and over. I rented it because I hadn't heard anything about it, and almost immediately wished that I had just taken the chance and purchased it, because it was obvious that we were going to.This is a well-crafted tale that portrays a variety of cultures and religions, has adventure and danger and lots of love. The main character, Maki, is a plucky, smart and determined young boy who will go to any length for his animal friend, Zarafa, as well as his other companions.The movie definitely has scary parts, including children who are enslaved, and who are pursued by slavers. I used this as a teaching opportunity for my young child, as this is an important part of history. Depending upon your child's age, you can go more or less into detail, but it can create a great dialog about a dark and scary time in history.The cast of characters is rich and and compelling, and there are lots of funny and warm parts that offset the scary ones. This movie has comedy, drama, action, and valuable lessons to teach, all while being beautifully animated and with a nice score.I can't recommend this movie highly enough, I just adore it, and wish that I had discovered it sooner!

What a beautiful movie with stunning animation! English voice cast did a great job too. I personally feel like it's more for adults than kiddos, as there is some violence, slavery, a merchant puffin' hash or some kind of opiate, and some death scenes. But if your If your kids are older, maybe it would be good... there's lots of redemption in the end, and some good points of discussion. Well worth the watch though... a really lovely film with a meaningful storyline. Life is a very sacred gift and this movie reminds us that we all must help take care of one another.

Beautifully animated with lots of teachable moments, this is a perfect family movie, engaging and interesting for a range of ages. Just be prepared to possibly explain slavery and other difficult topics to the little ones. I thought the historic truths and the deaths in the movie were an opportunity for conversation, not a draw back. Much better than Disney schlock.

The story is a little thin - a boy escapes slave traders thanks to a giraffe and then must free the giraffe to keep his word - but the animation is gorgeous. Older children ready to handle historical inequalities will be ready for this film. The English language voice cast does a wonderful job.

Beautiful story and visuals. If your child is sensitive to violence or intense situations this may be a little much. It was a very eye opening movie for my 7 year old. He had no concept of slavery and how harsh the world can be. It was a good lesson in determination, trust and teamwork.

What a beautiful story!!! This is one of the first family movies hat is truly for families with kids of all ages. No swearing, good moral characters and ones that we will encounter in life, decisions that we have to make that will affect the rest of our lives. The struggles of a young boy and his relationship with those that mold his life along the way. Awesome movie if I could I would say this should have been nice the big screens.

This was such a beautiful and wonderfully animated story that I wish had been around when I was a kid. I know that it's for children but even adults will enjoy this film. It is beautiful to watch and the story is well told. The morals of the story are useful for all ages. I think that it might be a tad violent for really young or easily frightened children, but the violence isn't gory, no worse than the Lion King or Mulan. I think that this is something you should watch with your kids so you can explain some of the more mature themes. It was also a pleasant surprise to see a diverse cast of animated characters. As a kid, I would have loved seeing black children (There is more than one! Not just the one thrown in for diversity) that were central to the story line and not just the best friend or a background character.

My sons (3 and 6) loved this movie. It made them think about and want to discuss love and family and pets. They also began to make connections to other movies and books we've read. I introduced it two days ago and they've watched it multiple times already.

Who was Zarafa? She was a 19th century giraffe born in the Sudan who lived the whole of her adult life at le Jardin des Plantes in Paris (the world’s oldest municipal zoo). She was a curiosity, a traveller, a cultural ambassador, a gift from the Egyptian Pasha to the King of France, the first giraffe ever seen by millions of French people. She was adored and cherished, and she even set fashion trends.In his book, “Zarafa: The True Story of a Giraffe’s Journey from the Plains of Africa to the Heart of Post-Napoleonic France” (1998), author Michael Allin writes:“She became a sensation in Paris where glamorous women imitated her with their hair styled high a la Giraffe, and in the streets and salons men wore fashionably giraffique hats and ties. Now remembered as a beautiful but vague legend, France’s first living giraffe was a national icon, the envy of Europe, the subject of songs and poems, music-hall sketches and political allegories, and the namesake of public squares, streets and inns.”She was a star, a celebrity who ate tree leaves, but she was forever modest, taking it all in her stride. And stride she did, walking all the way from Marseilles to Paris in May and June of 1827. She walked with grooms and handlers, with three milk cows who provided her with fresh milk every day, and with the eminent Etienne Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, the greatest French naturalist of his time.But how did this happen? How did a baby giraffe born at Sennar along the Blue Nile in the Nubian Desert of Sudan travel all the way to Paris (a journey of over 4,000 miles), and why?This colourful, wonderful French animation is of course a fictionalised account of Zarafa’s journey, but there are elements of truth in it. She did indeed reach Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile where it spills into the Mediterranean Sea. But she didn’t do it on foot with camels and people as shown in this film. Instead, she went all the way down the Nile from Khartoum aboard a ship specially kitted out for her (she stood below deck with a hole cut in the deck from which her neck and head could protrude).She travelled with Hassan, a Bedouin Arab hired for the task by the Pasha, as well as with Hassan’s assistants. Here in this film his unusual assistant is a 10-year-old Sudanese boy named Maki who more or less adopts Zarafa when her mother is shot and killed by an evil slave trader named Moreno. Maki vows to Zarafa’s dying mother that he will never leave Zarafa, guarding her with his own life. Hassan finds Zarafa wandering in the desert with Maki and tells Maki to return to his local village. Zarafa will go on a long, arduous journey by order of the Pasha — too long and arduous for Maki to follow. But Maki has taken his vow and refuses to take no for an answer. He cannot go back on his word. So he follows Hassan and Zarafa through the Nubian Desert, Hassan leading Zarafa on a leash tied to Hassan’s camel, Ben Hur. A cow travels with them as well, providing fresh milk for Zarafa daily, as she’s still a baby mammal less than 18 months old and thus cannot eat plants and leaves yet. Maki follows behind them on the back of another cow.Through many adventures over several months they reach the sparkling city of Alexandria which shines like a jewel in the hot sun. But the splendid city is under siege, harbours to the city blocked by Turkish warships. How can Zarafa get to France?In truth, of course, she arrived in Marseilles by ship after a long sea voyage. But in the film she reaches France in a highly unorthodox way — via hot-air balloon. An eccentric Frenchman named Malaterre owns the balloon. He has been using it for observational purposes to help the Pasha struggle against his enemies.Hassan, Maki and Zarafa arrive at the palace of the Pasha. Zarafa is greeted as an honoured guest, everyone touching and petting her. The Pasha is highly pleased as well, observing that Zarafa is strong, healthy and good natured. She’s the perfect specimen he has wanted for the King of France, his would-be ally in fending off the Turks. So Zarafa is partly a political gift, a way of Egypt seeking help from France.The film of course is playful and far-fetched. Hassan, Malaterre, Zarafa and the two cows sail through the air across the Mediterranean. Maki is aboard too as a stowaway, hidden in a bale of hay that is meant to feed the cows. Why a stowaway? Because Hassan has finally put his foot down, insisting that Maki come no farther with him and Zarafa. France — a place Maki has never heard of before — is no place for a 10-year-old African boy. No, Hassan would not hear of it and orders Maki to return home on the back of Ben Hur, Hassan’s hardy camel. But with Malaterre’s help Maki hides in the bale of hay and is bound for France with the others.That is, until the balloon fails to gain height. Too heavy. Too much weight. So Hassan chucks the cows overboard. Next goes the bale of hay, jettisoned despite Malaterre’s offbeat, strange protest. But the cows and Maki will not drown. Instead, they make a soft landing on the deck of a pirate ship. How? Suspend judgement, as this is just a cartoon. At any rate, Maki is safe, and even liked by the pirates because he can sing and dance. The pirates follow the balloon. Why? Because Maki has told them there is great treasure in the basket of the balloon. How great? Greater than gold and silver he tells them, their eyes widening and lips smacking.So that is how Maki and the cows reach Marseilles. Hassan, Malaterre and Zarafa have arrived too.In reality, as previously stated, Zarafa walked the full way to Paris from Marseilles via Lyon. When the party arrived in Lyon more than 30,000 people were waiting to greet her. They marvelled, jostled, and shouted with joy and amusement when she arrived. After resting outside the city for some days the journey re-commenced. Zarafa arrived in Paris on schedule on June 30 after a journey of over 550 miles that lasted 41 days. There she was greeted by over 60,000 wildly enthusiastic Parisians and quickly became the talk of the town.The King and his court were immensely pleased as well. Incredible as it all was, Zarafa’s long and arduous journey was now at an end. Paris was now her new home and she would live there for the remainder of her life.Saint-Hilaire wrote the following in his official report to the King:“The health of the animals [the cows] was in no way altered during the journey. On the contrary, their health was notably strengthened…But principally it is the giraffe whom the journey has marvellously benefited. She gained weight and much more strength from the exercise. Her muscles were more defined, her coat smoother and glossier upon arrival here than they were in Marseilles. She is presently 2.7 metres tall. Also during the journey her ways became more trustworthy. She no longer refuses to drink in front of strangers…and she’s as debonair as she is intelligent.”And so a star was born, an unusual one who thrilled and mystified onlookers. Why is her neck so long? And her legs? And her tongue? How can her heart pump blood all the way up to her head through her long neck, and why doesn’t gravity prevent the blood from rising? Why is she usually so silent but sounds almost like a cow when she cries? Why did God even make such a creature? Whatever for? But these questions, unanswerable as they might have seemed, did not stop people from loving her. ‘Zarafa’ means “charming one” in Arabic and she lived up to her name. Through time she grew taller and heavier as she aged. But she never stopped being charming and adored. Even her long eyelashes added to her beauty and apparent femininity. She lived another 18 years in Paris, dying in 1845. But even in death the French could not let go of her, her body now stuffed and preserved in a natural history museum in France.The film is charming and vividly coloured. It’s probably a film for children, but who among us has completely let the child in us die? Those who have are already dead, or as good as. If you like delightful stories you will delight in this one. I showed the DVD to four classes of mine at a Japanese university more than a month ago and the students are still buzzing about the story of Zarafa. Like most people, they had never heard of her before. But now that they know her most will never forget her.Does it matter that giraffes exist in the world? If you have to ask yourself this question you are not thinking deeply enough with your God-given or nature-given emotional intelligence.

Stunning pictures and quite interesting story, a bit aggressive at times.

Joli conte pour enfants narrant la venue en France de la première girafe sous Charles X. L'événement est historique, mais les auteurs ont développé une histoire apte à captiver un jeune public. Les mérites du film sont dans l'évocation d'une période historique et la beauté des images. A son détriment, on aurait aimé un film moins politiquement correct. En bonus, un dessin animé de la fin des années 50 sur l'histoire de la girafe. A voir par les enfants aussi car en 17 minutes, ils apprendront au moins 300 mots...

Une histoire magnifique, des personnages attachants, avec une épaisseur humaine consistante. Des dessins splendides, et une musique qui met en relief les aventures et les sentiments des héros. Une musique aux accents de Ravel et de "Lawrence d'Arabie". Clins d'oeil cinématographiques à Zorba le Grec (prénom de Bouboulina la femme pirate grecque) ? Kirikou de Michel Ocelot ? Les grands classiques du cinéma et de l'animation ? Bravo aux créateurs pour ce film qui élève l'esprit des enfants et leurs parents et qui se détache des productions commerciales, violentes et sophistiquées, vides de sens. Une perle à avoir dans sa cinémathèque.

Un grand moment de plaisir avec mes petits-enfants. Cette girafe a eu un destin extraordinaire. Je crois qu'elle est d'ailleurs empaillée au musée d'histoire naturelle de La Rochelle.La narration par l'intermédiaire d'un griot qui revient à intervalles est intéressante, le moment préféré des petits est l'intervention de l'hippopotame