The best animated film of the fall? Linda has wanted a chicken, a colorful and moving adventure since she was 6 years old

Recommended from 6 years

once – No, Linda did not take her mother Paulette’s ring! This punishment is completely unfair! And now Paulette will do anything to forgive, even a chili chicken, someone who doesn’t know how to cook. But how can you find chicken on the day of the general strike?

From a chicken to a watermelon truck, from a diligent police officer to an allergic truck driver, from a grandmother to a flood, Paulette and her daughter set off in search of a chicken, leading the entire “Linda Gang” and eventually the entire neighborhood. . But Linda doesn’t know that this chicken that her father once cooked so well is the key to her lost memory. By the way, does anyone know how to kill a chicken?

which they will fall in love with – Linda already. A young heroine with a strong character, stubborn like children her age, and with whom it is very difficult not to get attached. From the opening credits, which contains the key to the story. When he is unfairly punished by his mother. Or in his quest to finally get that dish he dreams of and which gives the film its name.

Then it’s hard not to fall in love with the visual style. As in The Girl Without Hands, his previous feature film (filmed without Chiara Malta, here her accomplice), Sébastien Laudenbach combines simplicity with experimentation. And each character has their own color (and by extension their personality and voice).

Thus, Linda is yellow, her favorite color. And it all sometimes resembles a rainbow, which can be very practical for working on children’s memory: if they don’t remember the name of the character, maybe its color will come back to their head more easily.

What could be bothering them? – Memory is exactly one of the strong themes in Linda Wants Chicken! whose amusing title belies the emotional heart of the story. Yes, there is a lot of humor and even a bit of action. But this dish that the young heroine asks for is something that her father made for her before he died, when she was still little and she thinks she doesn’t remember.

Even when approached tactfully in animated films, as here in his opening credits, death can often be a source of angst for young people (thank you Bambi and The Lion King). But it will be a good opportunity to bring this topic up with them and talk more broadly to celebrate these dead people they knew so little and don’t remember. or very little.

There is also talk of a general strike and action. And some children may be troubled by the relationship between Linda and her mother at the beginning of the story. Or how the young heroine is unjustly punished and called a thief and a liar for allegedly taking the ring. But the second part, lighter in appearance, will help them overcome these passages.

which they will hold deeply – Probably hunger. Because there’s a lot to talk about in the not-so-long 76-minute span of cooking. So pay close attention to seeing it, or you’ll hear your stomach grumbling.

Colorful in more ways than one, Linda wants chicken! offering them a display of visual fireworks and a fun and lively adventure (no doubt Esteban’s cop double will cause a few bursts of laughter). And this story about childhood wounds that we think are buried can help us put words to words that are difficult to discuss.

In addition to its visual and narrative qualities, it is perhaps for this reason that the feature film Crystal won the most important prize at the last Anise festival in June.