Paul Grimault (; 23 March 1905 – 29 March 1994) was one of the most important French

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...

s. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature. 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'' (''The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep'') 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'' (literal), ''The King and the Mockingbird'', ''The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird'' and ''The King and Mr. Bird'' (1980). He also collected his best shorts in a retrospective compilation movie, ''La table tournante'' (1988), 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 Émile Eugène Jean Louis Cohl (; né Courtet; 4 January 1857 – 20 January 1938) was a French caricaturist of the largely forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest Pa ...

, which had closed years earlier.
During World War II, Americans 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 Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...

group Groupe Octobre. At this group he met

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

, 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: * 1952/1953 : ''La Bergère et le Ramoneur,'' disowned, incorporated into ''Le Roi et l'Oiseau'' * 1980 : ''Le Roi et l'Oiseau'' Received 1979 Louis Delluc Prize in December 1979, released in theaters on 19 March 1980 * 1988 : ''La Table tournante,'' with Jacques Demy, collection of shorts :Named after the moving table in ''La séance de spiritisme'' (1931), which is the short that begins the collection. Short: * ''Monsieur Pipe fait de la peinture'', 1936 (unfinished, film school) * ''Les phénomènes électriques'', 1937 * ''Le messager de la lumière'', 1938 * * ''L'enchanteur est enchanté'', 1938 * ''Les passagers de "La Grande Ourse"'', 1939–1941 (originally ''Gô chez les oiseaux'' (''Gô among the birds''), 1939)* * ''Le marchand de notes'', 1942 * * ''La Machine à explorer le temps'', 1942 (unfinished) * ''L’épouvantail'', 1943 * * ''Le voleur de paratonnerres'', 1944 * * ''Niglo reporter'', 1945 (unfinished) * ''

La flûte magique '' The Magic Flute'', an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, was composed in 1791 and premiered to great success. It has been an important part of the operatic repertory ever since, and has inspired a great num ...

'', 1946 * * ''Le petit Soldat'', 1947 * (International prize,

Venice Biennial The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest o ...

1948, Grand Prix of the Prague and Rio festivals, 1950) * ''La Légende de la soie'', 1950 * (short for the silk industry) * ''Pierres oubliées'', 1952 * ''Enrico cuisinier'', 1956 (mixed with live action, with Pierre Prévert) * ''La faim du monde'' (ou La faim dans le monde), 1957/58 (re-edited version for children, ''Le Monde en raccourci,'' 1975) * ''Le petit Claus et le grand Claus'', 1964 * ''Le diamant'', 1970 * with Jacques Prevert, complement to '' L'Aveu'' of Costa-Gavras * ''Le chien mélomane'', 1973 * with Jacques Prevert * ''Le fou du Roi'', 1987–1988 * (made for La Table Tournante) Commercials: * Le Messenger de la Lumière (''The Messenger of Light'') – for a light shop * La Légende de la Soie (''The Legend of Silk'') – paid for by the silk industry * Sain et Sauf (''Safe and Sound'') – for Danon yogurt * Terre! (''Land ho!'') – for an optician Other work: * ''La séance de spiritisme'' (''The spiritualist seance'') (1931, live action advertisement by Jean Aurenche with stop-action animation by Grimault and Jacques Brunius) * Two animated TV pilots (''Chasseurs pécheurs'' and ''Les Sportifs de la Préhistoire''), 1970 * Animated sequences projected during the show ''C'est la guerre, Monsieur Gruber'' (It's war, Mister Gruber) by Jacques Sternberg, at the Odeon theater, during the Comédie-Française

Legacy

* Hayao Miyazaki said he was inspired by Grimault's work.

References

External links

*Paul Grimault, ''Traits de mémoire,'' Éditions du Seuil, 1991; preface by Jean-Pierre Pagliano – Grimault's autobiography
La Table tournante de Paul Grimault et Jacques Demy (1988)
*
Excellent dedicated site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimault, Paul French animators French film directors French animated film directors French animated film producers People from Neuilly-sur-Seine 1905 births 1994 deaths Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres César Honorary Award recipients