Zarafa 2012

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter: A colorfully compelling kids flick with darker historical undertones, Zarafa reps a smart and successful freshman animation effort from writer-director Remi Bezancon. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: This hand-drawn French adventure is a children's story in the routine template of many friends-and-villains quests, but with a fresh historical setting and a serenely subdued look. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: In trying to tell an epic tale over just 78 minutes, the filmmakers sacrifice anything that might have made their film memorable. Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Variety: While the gorgeous widescreen landscapes have a pencil-and-aquarelle quality, the characters themselves are literally rougher-edged, a clever reminder of the hand-drawn, sketchlike quality of traditional animation. Read more

Sherilyn Connelly, Village Voice: Since there are giraffes in Parisian zoos, there necessarily had to be a first one, and Remi Bezancon and Jean-Christophe Lie's Zarafa is a beautifully animated and often moving telling of how it arrived there in the early 1800s. Read more