Didier Brunner presents

Charley & Mimmoa film by Jean-Luc François

Screenplay byMichel Fessler, Marine Locatelli and Didier Lejeune

Based on characters created byThierry Courtin(© Jeux Ravensburger)

Music byDominique Rossi

Songs byJP Nataf

World SalesCelluloid Dreams

2 Rue Turgot75009 ParisFranceT: +331 4970 0370F: +331 4970 0371info@celluloid-dreams.comwww.celluloid-dreams.com

1:185 / Dolby SRD / 2004 / 70 mins

Produced byLes Armateurs / RG Prince Films / Mélusine Production / Teva

Synopsis

Charley is amazed by the tiny seaside village that is to be his home for the vacation… He looks forward to a succession of beautiful summer days, an exquisite beach, a life without constraint… But soon he discovers that life on vacation is not without its adventures and unlikely encounters.

Mimmo is Charley's constant companion. He tells him everything and shares all the joys and jealousies of his life. But now Mimmo has Charley's new baby sister, Franny, to contend with…

When a strange mystery casts a shadow of anxiety over the children's summer and all their favorite toys start to vanish, Charley, together with Paulie and Lily, his new friends, conducts a suspenseful investigation to unmask the culprit.

After overcoming many frights and fears it all ends well for the happy band. There is firework display and a concert on the village square. This is what growing up's all about.

The BeginningA Hero for the Tiny Tots

Charley the penguin-boy was originally created by Thierry Courtin as a character in three games published simultaneously by games publisher Jeux Nathan in 1992. Then came a book venture, also launched by Nathan, introducing Charley as the protagonist of a series of starter-books for the very young with such titles as Charley Makes a Garden, Charley Gets Greedy, Charley Enjoys The Rain… Very soon, Charley had become the series for tiny tots, with more than one million copies sold per year in France alone.

Thierry Courtin, the author, has an explanation for this achievement. He says "It's important to observe the wonder of everyday life". And that’s what made the Charley books so successful. Charley experiences the same everyday "adventures" that almost every child his age has to go through: his first day at kindergarten, the ups and downs of friendship, fear of the dark… and through the very ordinariness of these experiences he becomes a kind of mascot, a hero.

In 1998, the phenomenal success of these books prompted the Les Armateurs production company to develop a TV adaptation of the Charley stories, with Mimmo and his other friends as major characters.

Gradually, Charley's visual environment evolved with such crucial developments as the emergence of Mimmo as a fully-autonomous character. Also, Charley and his friends were growing up. They were enjoying more and more complex adventures and wandering beyond the confines of Charley's parents' house and garden.

The TV series consisted of 65 episodes aimed at very young children. It was broadcast on France's Canal J from 1999 onwards, proving a considerable hit, and generating sizeable merchandising revenues, including more books in the form of a new series of the written Adventures of Charley.

The success of this television adaptation is largely attributable to the choice of colors and to an idiosyncratically rounded graphic style which together compose a lively and cheerful world containing characters who are both amusing and endearing… The Charley stories involve no magicians, no fairies or wicked witches. They are firmly rooted in everyday experience and designed to help children learn the basics about life. Children love this approach and parents of course love the values the stories convey: sincerity, friendship, solidarity, family ties, not to mention the crucially dependent relationship with Mimmo the teddy-bear, Charley's constant companion.

Following the lasting and acknowledged success of Charley the TV series, Les Armateurs decided, in 2001, to develop a feature adaptation, aimed primarily at 3 to 7 year-olds… and their parents.

Main Characters

Charley

Charley is the kindest person in the world. As a new arrival in the seaside village, he is amazed by the house which is to be his new home and by the natural world around it. He shows himself to be a lively, daring and affectionate companion and naturally makes an effort to meet others, specially his new neighbors, Paulie and Lily, whom he soon asks over to play. He always knows what to say when a comforting word is needed and always seems to be in a good mood. He loves life…

All because, he has had one incredible piece of luck. His teddy bear is a magical teddy bear and, wherever he goes, it stays with him, like a guardian angel…

Paulie

Paulie is a spoilt child, Charley's whiniest friend. He never lends his belongings to anyone else and makes a face whenever anyone asks him to play… But when his favourite robot suddenly disappears, Paulie learns how to share with other people and how to trust them: he learns how to make friends.

Lily

Lily is an energetic child and somewhat bold. The truth is that without her, the two boys would be nowhere. She has the imagination. She gives their games that special dimension. And whenever they get into trouble - maybe because she's a girl - it is she who finds a way out…

Mimmo

Mimmo is Charley's cuddly, mischievous teddy-bear, his inseparable companion, the one he can tell everything, the one who consoles him when he's upset. But Mimmo is jealous of Charley's fondness for his brand new baby sister Franny, so he decides to run away…

Until he discovers that his friendship for Charley means more to him than anything in the world.

Director's Notes

A Journey into Childhoodby Jean-Luc François

The only way to describe the making of this film is to describe the amazing people I met during the production process and how all these passionate, fascinating people worked together in perfect osmosis, in a way that was both fertile and fun. We had a great time.

At first, however, the fact that the different production units were to be spread far and wide round the world seemed daunting. In the end, I believe, that one of the strengths of the film is the way in which each person was able to bring their own contribution to bear. The other great factor was of course Charley and his friends – the characters. We all fell under the charm of these lively children who switch from laughter to tears in a moment and possess the ability to make their toys come to life. Through them, the whole team was able to unite around the universal theme of childhood. Nostalgia, our own childhood memories and seeing our own children grow up were shared experiences which brought us together through the film-making process. Maybe the truth is that the whole production team was just a bunch of oversized kids: after all we spend our entire days playing at drawing…

The characters seem graphically simple. They look "realistic", in terms of proportions. In fact, they all have enormous, moon-shaped heads and no necks. Their legs are short and stumpy and they tend to be on the plump side. Obtaining an expressive, dynamic animation was not easy. Nor was it easy making their expressions seem powerful and moving, because their facial features are so highly stylized. As there is very little detail, nuances are hard to achieve.

In order for Charley to have real adventures and also to distinguish the film from the TV series that I had directed, we decided to age the children a little (they go to proper school). But the graphic environment is unchanged, a marginally richer version of the world of Charley and his friends as it appeared on television: a chocolate-box world, in which everything seems round, as though pumped up with a bicycle pump. There are no sharp angles or hard lines. I wanted Charley's village and its surroundings to resemble the village where I was born, with its war memorial, its haystacks and its woods full of tree-houses. The colors are borrowed from Brittany, as regards the sea and the harbor; from Provence as regards the buildings and the blue of the sky. A fantasy Charleyville-by-the-Sea.

I hope that the audience, parents and children alike, will enjoy and share all the great things we felt during the making of the film.

Jean-Luc FrançoisDirector

Jean-Luc François was born in 1964 in Champagne. Upon graduating from the Troyes and Rheims School of Fine Arts in 1988, he immediately went into video and animation, completing his training at the CFT Gobelins in 1989 and 1990. As early as 1988, he worked as an animator on pop promos, TV series and corporate films. From 1991, he worked as an AD on various TV series including Hurray for the Family, Hurry on Christmas, Flash Gordon, Papyrus and Paddington. He has been making his own films since 1989.

As a director, he has made corporate films for FNAC, ELF, INA, the Cité des Sciences Museum in Paris. He has directed commercials for Reflex Insurance (Assurances Reflex), Petit Gervais (soft cheese) and Belin Shadock Mini Pizza. Les Armateurs commissioned him to direct Charley for Canal J TV (65/5') in 1998 and the feature version of Charley in 2001.

2001-04 Charley and Mimmo, feature film, director2001 Bob and Scott, 3D series 15X30mins & 30X15 mins,

Protecrea, TF1, director2000 "Bible", Hasdrubal, SF series, co-writer1998-1999 Charley, series, 65X5 mins, LesArmateurs, Cymax Canal

J, director1998 Paddington, 26x26 mins, Protecrea, Cinar, TF1, AD1997 Papyrus, 26X26 mins, Dupuis, Lacewood Production,

TF1, AD1996 Flash Gordon, 26x26 mins, Dupuis, Carrère, Lacewood

Productions, Canal+, France 3, AD1995 Two Billboards for Petit Gervais, director

Waiting for Christmas, 25X2 mins, Antefilms Production, France 3, ADDirector, animator 10X2 mins for the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie Museum in Paris, selected at the Annecy Film festival in 1995

Screenplay:Writing for Tiny Totsby Michel Fessler

The imagination of 2 to 7-year-old children is highly prolific and free. They take huge pleasure in a wide range of different types of story, from the most naïve to the most implausible to the most over-the-top. In fact, they are interested in everything. But their concentration quickly wanes… So the hard thing for a screenwriter is to create a story that combines suspense and poetry, drama and humor. Children of every character must find in every story "their" moment, the moment at which they experience such strong sense of emotion and release, of astonishment or fear, that they momentarily leave the plot – and then they have to be able to return to it without losing the thread… Writing for very young children of course allows the writer to remember his or her own childhood emotions: he or she must recapture sensations that belong to the realm of far-distant joys and happiness. That's the job.

Michel FesslerScreenwriter

At the age of twenty, after pursuing a course of business studies, Michel Fessler opened and ran two art-house movie theaters in Lyons, before going on to direct drama and documentary for France 3 Rhône Alpes Auvergne local television. After writing his first screenplay, he was offered the opportunity of working on an adaptation of Charles Juliet's Year of Awakening. Since then, he has written some twenty screenplays for feature films, animation and TV documentaries including Odyssey of the Species… His most recent work has been as co-writer on Regis Wargnier's Man to Man.

Feature Films

The year of Awakening by Gérard Corbiau (1991)Based on the autobiographical novel by Charles Julliet

L’Affaut by Yannick Bellon (1991)

Farinelli by Gérard Corbiau (1994)Storyline collaborator – Oscar Nominated

Imuhar by Jacques Dubuisson (1996)Co-written with Anick Deoyelle, Jacques Dubisson, Jacky Cukier

Ridicule by Patrice Leconte (1996)Co-written with Rémi Waterhouse, Ceasar Award –Best film,Oscar Nominated

Hanuman –by Fred Fougea (1998)

The Child Who Wanted to be a Bear by Jannik Hastrup (2002)

Charley & Mimmo by Jean-Luc François (2004)

Screenwriter – Films in Production

Serko by Joël FargesBased on the Novel by Jean-Louis Gouraud

The Child and the River – Based on the Novel by Henri Bosco

Man to Man by Régis Wargnier

Vertigo By François Girod

Odessy of the Species by Jacques Malaterre, France 3, 2003Versailles Les Films d’Ici (In pre-production)

TV Films (selected)Side Car by Marc Rière, France 2, 1996

Bete De Scene, Adaptation and script by B.Nissile (22mn)Screenplay prize festival de Villeurbanne, Canal + Prize

Production:A Budding Little Manby Didier Brunner

In a few years, Charley has become not just a friend to many little children but also many parents favorite kid. They recognize in this mischievous human penguin their own children's characteristic traits: curiosity, a yearning for adventure, a fear of the unknown, a determination to behave like a grown-up and a need for Mummy and Daddy, a tendency to defy adults as well as a need for consolation and protection… In other words, the little chap has a powerful will of his own, though he is always looking for tenderness and a family environment in which to assert himself.

Naturally, he is surrounded by friends, first among which stands Mimmo, the closest, the most indispensable everyday companion who has to put up with everything and hear everything that Charley wants to say. He is a magical teddy-bear, an ideal friend in times of joy and in times of pain. He moves of his own accord, he speaks – though, ssssh, don't tell the grown-ups, they wouldn't understand.

Charley's other friends are rascals of his own age, school friends and neighbors with whom he can share everything, his little adventures, his big mistakes and the stories – both imaginary and real, according to the viewer's age.

But Charley is a proper film. Even grown-ups will be caught up in the suspense of watching a band of tiny little ones overcoming their fears to battle against a gang of extraterrestrial toy-thieves… My aim and intention as a producer has been to offer our talented and cheeky young star – Charley – a complex and worthy part, a screenplay that no real actor would turn down. At the same time, I wanted to make a film for all the family, something to bring everyone together, in which each according to his or her age would find something to give interest and pleasure. Those were the terms in which I commissioned Michel Fessler to write the screenplay and Jean-Luc François to direct the film: I told them they had to give our celebrated young actor a story and a role that he would not be ashamed of.

Didier Brunner (Les Armateurs)Producer

Founded in 1994, Les Armateurs is now acknowledged as one of the leading animation houses in France. Didier Brunner's production company has benefited from the success of Michel Ocelot's Kirikou and the Witch (Grand Prix at the Annecy Film Festival in 1999, nearly one and a half million tickets sold in France alone since 1998) and also from the success of Sylvain Chomet's Oscar nominated Triplettes de Belleville (Cannes, 2003, more than 800,000 tickets sold in France, more than 40 territories sold).

The company aims to capitalize on its notoriety in order to progress by reducing its volume TV production in order to emphasize quality and focus on the feature film sector in which it is has played a pioneering role.

TV Production

- In 1995, with Odec Kid Cartoons of Belgium, Les Armateurs produces Carland Cross (26X26 mins), then with Animation Band of Italy Lupo Alberto (26X13 mins) based on the famous strip by Silver.

- IN 1998, Jean-Christophe Roger directs Belphégor, 26X26 mins Frédéric Bezian,

the artistic director, is a talented graphic artist trained at the School of Comic Strip Design, whose expressionistic style admirably serves the dark-minded character of Blephégor.

- Charley, 65X5 mins, directed by Jean-Luc François, introduces the famous Penguin boy to TV, making him one of the leading characters of TIJI, the TV channel.

Regarding feature film production, Didier Brunner has shown an astonishing capacity for discovering new talent, by establishing a house policy of "auteur" animation, focussing on original work.

- Following on from Kirikou and the Witch (1,500,000 tickets sold at the box office in France) in 1998, Prince and Princesses, Michel Ocelot's second feature comprising six short paper cut-out animation films was released (450,000 tickets sold to date).

- The Child that Wanted to be a Bear by Jannik Hastrup, a Franco-Danish co-

production, totalling 350,000 tickets sold since its release at the end of 2002.

- Sylvain Chomet's Triplettes of Belleville (830,000 tickets sold to date), officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival, Oscar-nominated (Best Animated Feature) and French Cesar-nominated (Best Feature).

Several projects are currently in development. These include:

for TV:

- Gift, 26X13 mins, 3D, writeen and directed by Frédéric Louf, about the metaphysical quest of video-game characters investigating in a comic way the secret of their existence, their raison d'être.

- Ponpon, 2 mins volume animation special directed by Fabien Drouet, which

transport the viewer into an everyday world at dog height, in a manner which is both entertaining and tender.

- A new version of Kiri the Clown

- Allez Raconte, adapted from the comic strip of the same name by Lewis Trondheim and José Parrondo.

- Tomcat, about a cat that burgles and is not like other cats

For cinema:

Shorts:

Two shorts, The Phantom Inventory by Franck Dion and Where's Your ID? by Claire Fouquet.

Features:

Five features to be produced over the next three years.

- Kiriko’s Childhood, Kirikou tells the story of four different adventures that happened to him when he was little. The film is to be co-directed by Michel Ocelot and Bénédicte Galup, written by Michel Ocelot with Bénédicte Galup, Marine Locatelli and Philippe Andrieux. Went into production at the end of 2003, for a December 2005 release.

- Brendan and the Secret of Kells, based on an idea by Tomm Moora and Aidan

Harte, co-written by Fabrice Ziolkowski, inspired by the celebrated illuminated manuscript of the Book of Kells.

- Why I Ate My Father (Or Did I?), a 3D animation project adapted from the best-seller by Roy Lewis by Frédéric Fougéa and Jean-Luc Fromental.

- The Devil's Music, based on the story of Robert Johnson, the bluesman, graphics by JANO and directed by Alexis Lavillat and Raoul Magrangeas.

- The Child and the River, based on a book by Henri Bosco, written by Henri Fessler and co-directed by Michel Fessler and Jean-Christophe Roger for the animation. This project combines live action and animation, marking a new departure in the history of "Les Armateurs", an entry into the family drama market.

Today, "Les Armateurs" aims to produce at least one feature film and one TV series per year, aimed at the "family" market or at the adolescent and young adult market, which is today the most open-minded and culturally the most naturally interested by animation as a mode of expression.

Dominique RossiComposer

Dominique Rossi's world is a highly personal one, combining symphonic and highly conceptual electronic compositions.

His first break was a commission from the Symphony Orchestra of Caen, France, for a ballet, received when he was still a student at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won first prize for Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue.

After studying orchestration, he embarked on research into electronic sounds and contemporary music.

Later, he directed his attention to music for film, after having composed a number of chamber music works as well as a series of pieces for string orchestra and pop songs.

He has successfully composed advertising jingles for established international brands, scores for short films by new directors and worked with artists and designers making sound installations.

Dominique Rossi's inspiration is drawn from Paris, where he lives and works, and from Brazil, where he spent a number of years.

Classical music:

- Symphonic poems (Ballet) – Symphony Orchestra of Caen- Chamber Music- Pieces for String Orchestra

Music for film:

- Music for commercials, for corporate films and for short films.

- Composition and Arrangement for Variety Shows, in studio and in programming.

- Sound research and experiment, production, creation and recording.

Records:

- God Leaves Something to be Desired (electronic)- A Splendid View (for Forty Strings), by Symphony Orchestra of Bulgaria, Sofia,

2001- Zanotta (music for a sound installation), Zanotta Exhibition, Paris, Milan

2002/2003- Fragile (music for sound installation) Exhibition, Rouen Museum, 2003

JP Nataf was born in 1962. In 1982, he formed The Innocents, a successful group, which released Jodie, its first single in 1987, then five albums between 1989 and 1999: A Hundred Metres in Paradise, … Sing for Christmas, Out of their Minds, Post-Partum and The Innocents. When the band split up, JP embarked on a new career, composing with Mirwais and Bertrand Bonello, the music for the latter's first feature film, Organic, in 2002, then composing and producing an album for Jil Caplan Toute Crue . He has since been working on a solo album die to be released on Thomas Fersen and Vincent Delerm's label TOT OU TARD. He has composed, created and co-written with Jean-Luc François two songs for Charley and Mimmo, Ma Copine L'Amitié (My Mate Friendship) performed by himself and Ma Théorie (My Theory) performed by youngster Roman Osowski.

From the song Ma Théorie

Technical Credits and Cast

Directed by Jean-Luc François

Based on characters by Thierry Courtin(© Jeux Ravensburger)Screenplay by Michel Fessler,Marine Locatelli, Didier Lejeune

Music by Dominique RossiSongs by JP Nataf

1st AD Ollivier Carval

Storyboarders Jean-Pierre Barjaand Jean-Christophe Roger

Color Design – Production Design Jean-Marc PoiriaultSets Aymeric Gendre and Francesco MartiniAnimation Direction Hoonchil Jou and Inga PraulinaLay Out Studio 352Compositing and Special Effects TEVA

Editor Alice BoitardProduction Manager Sarah BeunzaAnimation Studios RG Prince Films, Rija Filmsand VilanimaSound Mixing at Piste RougeSound Recording at Cineberti

Music

Score by Dominique RossiPublished by Les Armateurs / Dominique RossiOriginal Songs by JP NatafWords by JP Nataf and Jean-Luc FrançoisMusic JP NatafMa Copine L'Amitié performed by JP NatafMa Théorie performed by Roman OsowskiPublished by Les Armateurs / Malifusic

Actors

Charley: Gwenaël SommierPaulie: Clovis MahoudenLily: Héloïse Jadoul

ProductionExecutive Producer Didier Brunner / Les Armateurs

Co-ProducersRégis Ghezelbash / RG PRINCE FILMSStéphane Roelants / MELUSINE PRODUCTIONSand Christophe Panzer TEVA

A Les Armateurs / RG Prince Films / Mélusine Productions / TEVA production

with the participation of Canal +with the support of the Centre National de la Cinématographie (French National Film Center)and PROCIREP With the support of the Poitou-Charentes Region and the Conseil- Général de la CharenteWith the participation of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg's National Fund for Audiovisual Production

Foreign Sales Celluloid Dreams / Carrère Group

© Les Armateurs / RG Prince Films / Mélusine Productions / TEVA