Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be (French: Le Petit Nicolas : Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux ?) is a 2022 French animated comedy film directed by Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre.[1] The film portrays the story of René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé as they create the influential Le Petit Nicolas series of illustrated children's books, blending both scenes that directly adapt vignettes from the books and scenes that depict the real world creation of the books including Goscinny and Sempé interacting with and talking to Nicholas directly.[2]
| Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be | |
|---|---|
 | |
| French | Le Petit Nicolas : Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux ? |
| Directed by | Amandine Fredon Benjamin Massoubre |
| Written by | Michel Fessler Anne Goscinny Benjamin Massoubre |
| Based on | Le Petit Nicolas by René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé |
| Produced by | Adrian Politowski Christel Hénon Aton Soumache |
| Starring | Alain Chabat Laurent Lafitte Simon Faliu |
| Edited by | Benjamin Massoubre |
| Music by | Ludovic Bource |
| Animation by | Juliette Laurent Keelan MacLeod Julien Maret Sevan Selvadjian |
Production companies | On Classics (Mediawan) Bidibul Productions |
| Distributed by | BAC Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
The film stars Alain Chabat as Goscinny, Laurent Lafitte as Sempé, and Simon Faliu as Nicholas. Goscinny's daughter, Anne Goscinny, was one of the writers.[3]
The film premiered as a special screening at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
Critical response
editAllan Hunter of Screen Daily praised the film, calling it a charming animation with "some of the style of Sylvain Chomet", and writing that it "unfolds at a cracking pace, mirroring the boisterous, fizzing energy of a curious young mind. Ludovic Bource’s jaunty jolly score propels everything along, finding a musical style for every mood. Jean-Jacques’s wide-eyed arrival in Paris plays like a dynamic Gene Kelly song’n’dance number, there is a tango for René’s time in Argentina, a brassy exuberance to match the sense of expectation when René arrives in New York for the first time."[4]
Kaveh Jalinous of Under the Radar wrote that "Little Nicholas’ animation style, primarily reliant on watercolor, is the perfect visual accompaniment to the film’s breezy narrative. The animators’ minimalist usage of colors not only makes each shot look as if it was ripped out from the books themselves, but also draws heightened attention to both the forms of compositions and the contrast between filled-in spaces and empty ones. The simple everyday animation, especially paired with the film’s narrative, reinforces that Little Nicholas is for everyone."[2]
Peter Debruge of Variety was more mixed, praising the story vignettes but writing that the "real-world" segments lacked dramatic impact.[1]
Awards
edit| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annecy International Animation Film Festival | 2022 | Best Animated Feature Film | Amandine Fredon, Benjamin Massoubre | Won | [5] |
| European Film Awards | 10 December 2022 | Best Animated Feature Film | Nominated | [6] | |
| Lumières Award | 16 January 2023 | Best Animated Film | Won | [7] | |
| César Awards | 24 February 2023 | Best Animated Film | Nominated | [8] | |
| Annie Awards | 25 February 2023 | Best Animated Feature, Independent | Nominated | [9] |
References
edit- ^ a b Peter Debruge, "‘Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be’ Review: The Pint-Size Hero of a Cartoon ‘The 400 Blows’ Meets His Makers" Archived 2023-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. Variety, 19 June 2022.
- ^ a b Kaveh Jalinous, "Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be" Archived 2023-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Under the Radar, 21 December 2022.
- ^ a b Lise Pedersen, "The Little Nicholas Meets His Makers in Cannes World Premiere Animation Film" Archived 2023-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Variety, 19 May 2022.
- ^ Allan Hunter, "'Little Nicholas - Happy As Can Be’: Review". Screen Daily, 20 May 2022. Archived 2022-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Valerie Complex, "‘Little Nicholas – Happy As Can Be’ Takes Top Honor At Annecy International Animation Film Festival" Archived 2023-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. Deadline Hollywood, 18 June 2022.
- ^ "The European Film Awards announce their nominees in the Comedy, Animated Feature Film and Short Film categories" Archived 2022-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Cineuropa, 19 October 2022.
- ^ Rebecca Leffler, "Dominik Moll’s ‘The Night Of The 12th’ scoops best film prize at France’s Lumiere Awards" Archived 2023-01-21 at the Wayback Machine. Screen Daily, 16 January 2023.
- ^ Jamie Lang, "‘Ernest & Celestine,’ ‘My Sunny Maad,’ ‘Little Nicholas’ Score French Academy César Nominations" Archived 2023-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. Cartoon Brew, 25 January 2023.
- ^ Terry Flores, "Led by ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,’ Netflix Dominates Annie Awards Nominations" Archived 2023-06-15 at the Wayback Machine. Variety, 17 January 2023.