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A despotic king kidnaps a shepherdess with whom he is in love. He forces her to marry him in return for the freedom of her true love, a chimneysweep, and his mockingbird. When they escape from prison, the king attempts to recapture them with the help of a giant robot. A first version of ‘Le roi et l’oiseau’ was released in 1952 as ‘La bergere et le ramoneur’ (The shepherdess and the Chimneysweep). Grimault and Prevert disowned this version which had been imposed to them by the producers. Ten years later, Grimault retrieved the negative and started work on a new version. Prevert died in 1970, 2 weeks after completing the film. The film was again modified between 1977 and 1979 (although many original sections were kept) to be released in France in 1980. Awards: Prix Louis Delluc 1979.
Credits: Producer, Paul Grimault ; director, Paul Grimault ; writers, Paul Grimault, Jacques Prevert ; photography, Gerard Soirant ; music, Wojcieh Kilar ; songwriter, Joseph Kosma ; set decorator, editor, Paul Grimault ; artistic advisor, Pierre Prev
Cast: Jean Martin, Pascal Mazzotti, Agnes Viala, Raymond Bussieres, Hubert Deschamps, Roger Blin, Claude Pieplu, Albert Medina. [voices only]
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000438
Language
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)