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Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest facts for kids
| Azur et Asmar | |
|---|---|
Original French theatrical film release poster
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| Directed by | Michel Ocelot |
| Produced by | Christophe Rossignon |
| Written by | Michel Ocelot |
| Starring | Cyril Mourali Karim M'Riba Hiam Abbass Patrick Timsit |
| Music by | Gabriel Yared |
| Editing by | Michèle Péju [1] |
| Distributed by | France: Diaphana Italy: Lucky Red |
| Release date(s) | May 21, 2006 (Directors' Fortnight) October 25, 2006 (France) |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | France Belgium Spain Italy |
| Language | Classical Arabic French |
| Budget | €9,000,000 (estimated) |
| Money made | €9,000,000 |
Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest (French: Azur et Asmar) is a 2006 French-Spanish-Belgian-Italian computer-animated fairytale fantasy film written and directed by Michel Ocelot and animated at the Paris animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff Ligne. It was released in theaters in North America as just Azur & Asmar.
It is Ocelot's fourth feature, though his first wholly original creation since Kirikou and the Sorceress, and his first use of 3D computer graphics, albeit an atypical employment of this medium with two-dimensional, painted backgrounds and non-photorealistic rendering. Like most of his films it is an original fairy tale, in this case inspired by the folklore (such as the One Thousand and One Nights) and decorative art of Morocco and with an increased degree of characterisation relative to his previous works which pushes it into the genre of fairytale fantasy.
The original-language version of the film has significant amounts of dialogue in both French and Classical Arabic; however, the Arabic was not subtitled in the original French theatrical release and is not intended to be subtitled nor replaced for any other audiences.
Contents
Plot
Once upon a time there were two children nursed by Jénane: Azur, a blond, blue-eyed son of a nobleman, and Asmar, the tan skinned and dark-eyed child of Jénane. The nurse tells them the story of the Djinn-fairy waiting to be freed from her prison by a good and heroic prince. Brought up together, the two boys are as close as brothers until the day Azur's father cruelly separates them, banishing his nurse and Asmar from his home and sending Azur away to receive schooling from a personal tutor. Years later, Azur is haunted by memories of the legendary Djinn-fairy, and takes it upon himself to journey all the way to Asmar's homeland to seek her out and marry her. Now reunited, he finds that Jénane has since become a successful and rich merchant, while Asmar is now a member of the Royal Guard. However, Asmar and Azur's separation has damaged their bond and Asmar also longs to find and marry the Djinn-fairy. They must learn to work together and get along again, but only one of the two princes can be successful in his quest.
Cast
- Cyril Mourali
- Karim M'Riba
- Hiam Abbass
- Patrick Timsit
- Rayan Mahjoub
- Abdelsselem Ben Amar
- Fatma Ben Khell
- Thissa d'Avila Bensalah
- Sofia Boutella
- Olivier Claverie
- Jacques Pater
- Tayeb Belmihoub
- Franck-Olivier Bonnet
- Carlos Chahine
- Mohamed Damraoui
- Michel Elias
- Bouchra En Nasser
- Nicolas Lormeau
- Tassadit Mandi
- Sonia Mankaï
- Hamid Nasser
- Mohamed Ourdache
- Albert Pariente
- Lahcen Razzougui
- Hichem Rostom
- Mahmoud Said
- Myriam Tekaïa
- Djemal Touidjine
- Hichem Yacoubi
- Omar Yami
- Imogen Bailey
- Sean Barrett
- Freddie Benedict
- Leopold Benedict
- Suzanne David
- Steven Kynman
- Nigel Lambert
- Suzanna Nour
- Nigel Pilkington
- Emma Tate
- Keith Wickham
Soundtrack
Music is by Lebanese-born composer Gabriel Yared with the exception of one short song composed and performed by Afida Tahri; Souad Massi contributes vocals and lyrics to the Yared-composed ending theme "La Chanson d'Azur et Asmar." The score was nominated for the César Award for Best Music Written for a Film at the César Awards 2007.
See also
In Spanish: Azur & Asmar para niños