Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest
| Azur et Asmar | |
|---|---|
 French movie poster | |
| Directed by | Michel Ocelot |
| Written by | Michel Ocelot |
| Produced by | Christophe Rossignon |
| Starring | Cyril Mourali Karim M'Riba Hiam Abbass Patrick Timsit |
| Music by | Gabriel Yared Afida Tahri |
| Distributed by | France: Diaphana Italy: Lucky Red Japan: Ghibli Museum Library Singapore: Cathay Organisation UK and Ireland: Soda Pictures |
Release dates | Premiere: 21 May 2006 France: 25 October 2006 Singapore: 13 September 2007 UK and Ireland: 8 February 2008 |
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Countries | Belgium France Italy Spain |
| Languages | Classical Arabic French |
| Budget | €9000000 (estimated) |
Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest (French: Azur et Asmar) is a 2006 animated feature film[1] written and directed by Michel Ocelot, most famous for Kirikou and the Sorceress. It is his fourth feature and his first 3D computer animation, 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 (including, but not limited to, the One Thousand and One Nights) and decorative art of North Africa and the Middle East. 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."
Synopsis
Once upon a time there were two children nursed by same woman. Azur, a blonde, blue-eyed son of a noblewoman and Asmar, the dark skinned and dark-eyed child of the nurse. The nurse tells them the story of the Djinn-fairy waiting to be released from her chamber by a good and heroic prince. Brought up together they are as close as brothers until the day Azur's father cruelly separates them, banishing the nurse and Asmar from his home and sending Azur away to boarding school. 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 it out. Now reunited, he finds that she has since become a successful merchant, while Asmar is now a member of the Royal Guard. However, Asmar also longs to find the Djinn-fairy, and only one of the two youths can be successful in their quest.
Release
The film premièred on on 21 May 2006 as part of the Directors' Fortnight of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was released to French movie theatres nationwide on 25 October 2006. An English-subtitled version was shown at numerous film festivals including the Montreal Film Festival for Children and Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children – in both cases winning the festival's audience award – and at The Cathay in Singapore. The film was subsequently dubbed into English and distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland by Soda Pictures, receiving a limited release which began on 8 February 2008 and nevertheless lasted several months, most likely due to the small number of dubbed prints made (as of 27 June 2008, it was still showing at one cinema in Cleethorpes).[1] An English-subtitled, region 2 It was rated U by the British Board of Film Classification for "mild fantasy violence."[2] and a DVD-Video release followed on 28 July 2008.[2] The Japanese DVD[3] and region A Blu-ray Disc[4] released on 19 December 2007 and the Korean region 3 DVD released on 17 July 2008[5] also include English subtitles.
The film was licensed for distribution in the United States by the Weinstein Company on 13 February 2007, during European Film Market at the Berlin International Film Festival.[3] However, as September 2008 – over a year later – no plans to release the film in the United States have been announced. Similarly, Seville Pictures announced that they would distribute the film to both English and French speakers in Canada, but as September 2008 they have only released a DVD with only the original French dialogue no English subtitles.[4]
Many suspected that a United States release would have proved impossible due to Jénane's nipples being visible during a breastfeeding scene early on in the film (Kirikou and the Sorceress went unrated in order to avoid the PG-13 or higher rating it would received from the Motion Picture Association of America despite the similarly non-sexual nature of the nudity in that film) and Ocelot's refusal allow his films to be distributed in a censored version; the Weinsteins' apparent dropping of the title seemed attributable to this.[5] However, in early September 2008 it was revealed to been submitted to the MPAA by Genius Products (home video distributor for the Weinstein Company) and received only a PG rating for "thematic material, some mild action and peril," with no explicit reference made to the nudity.[6]
Alternative titles
Japan: Azūru to Asumāru (アズールとアスマール)
Brazil: As Aventuras de Azur e Asmar
France: Azur et Asmar
Greece: Azur kai Asmar
Spain: Azur y Asmar
UK: Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest
Notes
"Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest press pack" (PDF) (Press release). Soda Pictures. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- ^ "Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest". Soda Pictures. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ "Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest rated U by the BBFC" (Press release). British Board of Film Classification. 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- ^ "Azur and Asmar bought by TWC". Twitch. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ "Seville Pictures". Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ Amidi, Amid (2007-02-15). "Azur and Asmar Picked Up By Weinstein Co". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ "MPAA ratings: Sept. 3, 2008". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Company. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
External links
- Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest official UK Web site
- Azur et Asmar at Le Palais des dessins animés
- Financial Times and GhibliWorld.com interviews
- Production sketches, stills and original trailer