Le Petit Nicolas: Which famous actor voices Goskin?

From documentary to animated film

Originally, it was to be a documentary combining archive videos by Jean-Jacques Sempe and René Goskin with stories drawn by Patty Nicolas. Finally, the project developed and the desire to realize the entire film in animation was necessary. This long-term project was only actually developed and funded in the spring of 2020, when the director Benjamin Masubre joined the adventure.

He says: “I started by working with Anna Goskin on rewrites to develop, in particular, the sections that told the lives of Sempe and Goskin and to add as many biographical elements as possible. At the same time, we were working on the artistic direction. Fursi Teissier and Juliette Laurent going back and forth on the characters, the scene and the color choices.

What do we expect for happiness?

Strength and friendship emerge through this film, hence the subtitle “What do we expect to be happy? “. “The heart of the film lies in the fate of these two people, who imagined a dream childhood for Le Petit Nicolas and developed humor and a sunny character to overcome the dramas experienced in childhood: the Shoah for Goskin and the abuse of his stepfather for Sempe”, explains. Benjamin Masubre.

Anna Goskin He adds: “There’s a word that’s unfortunately overused, but one that perfectly fits my father and Sempe. A word that could be their common denominator: resilience. One saw a family go to hell, the other didn’t receive the love that a child would have thrived in.” enables. They created this little Nicola who lives a dream childhood.”

Director Amandine Fredon Noting that the context of the production, in the midst of a pandemic, strengthened the desire to make a good film. “This fantasist Patty Nicholas and the humor they developed is a positive reaction to these traumas. The film conveys this very positive message.”

Engaging Anna Goskin

Novelist and daughter Rene Goskinwhose activities it manages and whose sole beneficiary is, Anna Goskin Participated in the script, dialogues and adaptation of the film. This is the first time he tried his hand at writing a film, at the instigation of producer Aton Sumash.

He was supported by Michel Fessler, “a screenwriter who possessed the dual quality of being both a tremendous professional and a man of rare kindness.” As for the relationship with the directors, he cooperated more Benjamin Masubre With whom he took the script to make everything match the animation.

Successor to Goskin’s Chabat

Alain Chabat lends Goskin’s voice. This is Anna Goskin Himself, whom he met for Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, who asked him. He considers him “a sort of spiritual heir to my father,” adding: “It was important that the actor who voices my father had as much excitement as tenderness or friendship. Here are two men who managed to weave. Complicity without meeting. We talk about complicity, which frees itself from death.’

A huge fan of René Goskin, the actor was thrilled to be part of the film: “René Goskin has always been a huge influence. Dozens of volumes could be written about what he brought to comics, film, live-action, animation, entrepreneurship, humor and culture in general.”

visual style

The film contains two very different worlds in the film: the world of the authors and the world of little Nicholas. For the latter, the filmmakers wanted to stay as close as possible to the book’s illustrations, whether in-line or without painting the sets entirely by leaving white surfaces. They were based on illustrations by Patty Nicolas, but also on Sempe’s illustration work in other works.

Benjamin Masubre Returning to the difficulties: “His line is almost impossible to imitate because he never draws the same little Nicola, whereas in animation we have to keep an identical character that we immediately recognize. Moreover, it creates the whole poetry of his drawings. Their vertical formats and film require a horizontal format.”

The drawings are verified by Jean-Jacques Sempe. “It was both funny and touching moments when he signed and thanked us for our reproductions of his work or representations of him,” he recalls. Amandine Fredon.