Le petit Nicolas: Qu’est-ce qu’on attend pour être heureux?: Animated film about the famous French children’s book character and his creators
Plot and background
Many children have followed the adventures of Little Nick, from the children’s books of the same name, since the 1960s. However, “Little Nick Tells of Happiness” is about more than just the everyday life, of a mischievous boy in 1950s Paris. Little Nick does go to school, makes friends, goes on holiday and even meets girls, but during all these carefree childhood adventures, the curious boy keeps popping up in the studios of his creators. The cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé and the comic author René Goscinny, who brought the lovable character to life, give Nick many a life lesson along the way. While Goscinny tells the little boy about his eventful life on his typewriter, Sempé’s Nick talks to his inventor from a sheet of paper. Sempé and Goscinny tell him poignant stories about their own friendship and their own childhood.
“Little Nick tells of happiness” – background, cast, cinema release
Benjamin Massoubre and Amandine Fredon directed the new animated adaptation of Little Nick. However, this is not the first screen adaptation of the popular French children’s book. There is already a three-part live-action adaptation of “Little Nick”. The latest part, “Little Nick on a Treasure Hunt”, was released in the summer of 2022. For the animated adaptation, directors Massoubre and Fredon made a point of sticking as closely as possible to illustrations from the original books. The illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempé even attended the first animation tests to approve the work of the film team. Michael Fessler wrote the script together with Anne Goscinny, the daughter of the late comic author René Goscinny. Anne Goscinny thus created a commemoration of the work of her father, who is particularly known for his comics about the brave Gaul Asterix and the cowboy Lucky Luke, and of course for his stories about Little Nick.
“Little Nick Tells of Happiness” celebrated its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival and was awarded Best Feature Film at the Annecy Festival. The film will be shown in German cinemas from 1 December 2022.
