Paul Grimault, image par image
Fabienne Issartel
2003 - 55 min - Vidéo - Couleur et Noir & Blanc - France

For Paul Grimault, "frame by frame" amounted to a philosophy that well defined this champion of "24 frames per second". Grimault and Jacques Prévert had known each other for 10 years when, back in the 40s, they got to work on the script of The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep, from an Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Together they revised the final version of the film, which was to become in the late 70s, The King and Mr. Bird. By retracing the making of this unique film, this documentary naturally describes the full artistic range of Paul Grimault. Discussing their contributions to the film, each of his collaborators enlightens us as to this now bygone world that is artisan animation filmmaking. We thus get a kaleidoscopic portrait of a great filmmaker who knew how to blend conscientious craftsmanship and great geniality. A voice-over commentary by Grimault gives the film its full humanity.