French animation is uniquely its own brand of fantastic, and distribution branch GKIDS commits itself to spreading the joy of these features far and wide. Bizarre titling aside, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds has to be one of the most creative films I have seen in quite some time. Sirocco feels like a pleasing mixture of The Wizard of Oz and The Boy and the Heron; additionally, co-writer Alain Gagnol also wrote the screenplay for Oscar nominee, A Cat in Paris. A whimsical story just as timeless and unforgettable as its characters, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds will be a family favorite for decades to come.
A rapturous art style pulls us into the world of Sirocco from the very first frame. Rich blues and grays presenting the clouds swirl from every corner. King Sirocco, overseer of weather, has created tiny little wooden toys to entertain himself in the midst of his suffocating isolation from others. Sirocco grows bored of these wooden toys and casts them out, unknowingly setting the events of the film into motion.
Back in the human world, author and neighbor Agnes receives two young girls, Charlotte and Carmen, to babysit while their mother is away. The famous author of the Kingdom of the Winds series, friendly and warm Agnes almost immediately excuses herself to take a nap. Staying up deep into the night to write does not a well rested babysitter make! To keep themselves entertained, Charlotte and Carmen open up one of the books Agnes has written to be swept away into its fantastical realm. A little wooden toy pops out of the book—the toy, a Sirocco castoff, chalks out a hopscotch path and jumps into it, creating a fresh entryway directly into the Kingdom of Winds!
The actual Kingdom itself is every bit as magical and full of wonder as one would expect. Both girls become elongated and transformed into cat-people on their journey over the barrier. Sucked into their beloved book series, Carmen and Charlotte are soon separated under troubling circumstances. They must reunite with one another, and discover a way to fix the now-broken little solider who brought them here. How will the sisters escape from the Kingdom of the Winds?
All manner of intriguing types of creatures and situations are encountered within the Kingdom of the Winds, including giant tentacular representations of storms, technicolor dragons, the mosquito-esque Goodie Gobblers, a shotgun wedding, and duck-diva Selma, who holds a mysterious connection to Agnes. Our characters do not directly interact with everything they see, yet director Benoît Chieux, who also co-wrote the script, fills every inch of the kingdom with beautiful bursts of activity of all sizes and shapes. The animation style, blocky and colorful, emulates Arthur and Dr. Seuss, while discovering its own unique blend of imagery.
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds would have been great just visually speaking, so what of its emotional resonance? The story not only explores the love between sisters, but the connective tissue between all living things. Just like Oz, audiences everywhere will be begging to revisit the Kingdom of the Winds again and again.
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds screened deep in the clouds of 2024’s New York International Children’s Film Festival.
