Animation and Heart: The Directors of Gkids Pick-Up ‘Little Amélie' Reflect on Collaborative Spirit in Bringing ‘The Character of Rain' to Screen
All children are gods in their own perspective, until they discover their own human nature. Belgian novelist Amélie Nothomb expanded on this idea in her novel 'The Character of Rain,' published in 2000, in which the author recalled the first three years of her life growing up as a diplomat's daughter in late 1960s Japan. From being a simple 'digestive tube, inert and vegetative,' Little Amélie discovers language, parents, brothers and sisters and the ability to influence the world around her.
Focusing on Nothomb's earliest friendships, especially with her guardian Nishio-san, 'The Character of Rain' is a short yet powerful novel about the passing of seasons and time, with its happy moments and tragedies.
More from Variety
Annecy Contender 'Death Does Not Exist' by Félix Dufour-Laperrière Gets Political: 'There's Urgency to Redistribute Wealth'
Guillermo del Toro-Backed El Taller del Chucho, Fasten Films, Martfilms Team on 'Sira and the Secret of the Park,' From Adrià García, Ángeles Cruz (EXCLUSIVE)
Bread Zombies, Operatic Tapeworms, Nuclear Fallout and Storm Trooper Trauma Feature in our 10 Shorts Not to Miss at Annecy 2025
A book that touched animator-director Liane-Cho Han at the age of 19, and stayed with him ever since. As a student, Han dreamt of an adaptation that he never thought would come to life. Yet this story returned to Han's mind after the birth of his son. Seeing the same godliness attitude in his child, Han decided to reignite the project and bought the book for his long-time colleague and co-director Maïlys Vallade, who also fell in love with the character.
'Little Amélie' was first presented in 2021 at Cartoon Movie, the main European animated feature co-production forum, by French co-producers Maybe Movies and Ikki Films. After premiering at Cannes, the film is now part of Annecy Animation Festival's Official Competition. Just before the festival, Gkids announced they had acquired North American rights to this 'tale which stunned us with its emotional intelligence and visual creativity,' according to Rodney Uhler, Gkids director of acquisitions and development.
Ahead of Annecy, Variety spoke with directors Vallade and Liane-Cho Han about this subtle and tender adaptation, and what it meant for them sharing this story through the animated medium.
How did you approach the adaptation process of such a singular story?
Maïlys Vallade: Throughout the years, we had created a small animation family around films such as Rémi Chayé's 'Long Way North' and 'Calamity, A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary,' and collaborating together and with talents such as storyboard artist Marietta Ren or writer-artistic director Eddine Noël. So we had many people on board. Everyone was truly invested in this adaptation and each and everyone brought part of their own passion in this project. It's a universal topic treated in a very singular way, which led to many passionate debates.
Liane-Cho Han: One of the biggest challenges of this process was finding the right tone to match our target audience. Nothomb's works are mostly adult-oriented, even if 'The Character of Rain' is maybe her most family-friendly novel. Achieving such a project with a family audience in mind took a lot of time and energy and we had discussions about the film's tone until the very end.
Is that what guided your artistic choices as well?
Vallade: It's funny because as a visual artist, I'm giving much more importance to content over form. To me, art has to make you grow, as a viewer but also as an artist. Our friend and colleague Rémi Chayé is very good at finding such stories, and that's what inspired me to give it all on this metaphysical, almost biblical, existential project.
Of course, we take our own sensibility, style and palette and we infuse it in the visuals of such a project, but this identity is all dedicated to tell this story the best way. 'Little Amélie' is a very rich and deep narrative told from a child's point of view in a realistic way, and that connected with me.
Han: I completely agree with Maïlys, substance is what drove me to this story. Being able to depict the transition between infancy and childhood – a topic rarely brought to screen – tells something unique and very humane about the memories we leave behind, memories that few of us can truly recall.
As parents, we see them in our children as they gradually understand that the world does not revolve around them. There's a kind of mourning in this transition, and it's something the film deals with in various ways. Sometimes, some things must be lost in order to discover even more beautiful ones. That's life, and that something that also drove our artistic choices to a heartwarming visual style, retaining proximity with our main character throughout her ups and downs that also manifest in the film's palette.
Your cast also plays a huge part in the film's energy, how did you meet with them, especially Louise Charpentier who gives so much life to Amélie?
Vallade: We found them thanks to our amazing casting director Céline Ronté, who also convinced us to rely much more on the actors' personalities and talent. Louise Charpentier, whom we discovered early in the process, stayed with us the whole time even though the film took seven years to make! She's an amazing narrator and has a very distinctive voice that really brought life to Amélie.
We're also incredibly thankful to all the supporting cast, as each of them brought complexity and depth to their characters.
What were the biggest challenges during production?
Han: Definitely the writing, which —as I mentioned earlier— took an enormous amount of work. But thanks to the fact that we had a great team, with whom we had already worked for years, this process was a beautiful collaboration. I sincerely believe that it's this animation family we've created that helped us complete the film.
Without this artistic group, and the connection we already shared, it would not have been possible.
Vallade: And that's why it was so important for us to perpetuate this teamwork. Granted, our collaborative method was also at the heart of the production issues, but I also believe that if we hadn't followed through on this path we've built over the years as a team, we would not be able to share 'Little Amélie' with global audiences today.
As Liane-Cho said, it's our little family of great talents who know each other inside out, who learned the pitch by heart and were able to navigate through our whole pipeline who made 'Little Amélie' come to life.
Best of Variety
25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
Emmy Predictions: Animated Program — Can Netflix Score Big With 'Arcane,' 'Devil May Cry' and the Final Season of 'Big Mouth?'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
42 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Winfrey's new book club pick marks the return of an old favorite, Wally Lamb
NEW YORK — For her next book club pick, Oprah Winfrey is highlighting an author she has praised even before she had a book club. Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has chosen Wally Lamb's new novel, 'The River Is Waiting,' the story of a father torn by grief and guilt. It's the third time she's selected a Lamb book and continues a bond predating 1996, when she launched her club.


Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Entrepreneur
Round-Up: Flick TV and Roomstory.ai Raise Capital to Disrupt Entertainment and Interior Design Sectors
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. India's startup ecosystem continues to attract early-stage capital, recently Flick TV and Roomstory (.ai) announced fresh funding rounds to fuel growth in the OTT and interior design markets, respectively. Flick TV Raises USD 2.3 Million Flick TV, a mobile-first OTT platform specialising in vertically shot, under-five-minute drama episodes, has raised USD 2.3 million in a seed round led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with additional backing from Gemba Capital and Titan Capital. Founded by Kushal Singhal and Pratik Anand, the platform aims to redefine how short-form storytelling is consumed in India. With over 100 original titles in the pipeline across genres like romance, thrillers, and slice-of-life, the startup plans to expand into four regional languages and integrate generative AI tools for scripting, storyboarding, and visual planning. Flick TV will adopt a hybrid monetisation model, offering both micropayments per episode and subscription options. The team includes former ShareChat, Meesho, and Pocket FM professionals, bringing strong operational and tech expertise to the venture. "The micro-drama format taps into snackable time with compelling storytelling. We believe this could be a USD 5 billion market in India within the next five years," said Singhal. Raises INR 3 Crore In a parallel development, an AI-native interior shopping assistant, has secured INR 3 crore in a pre-seed round led by Rukam Sitara Fund. The capital will be used to advance AI capabilities, launch web and mobile platforms, and grow a community of design enthusiasts. Founded by architect-entrepreneurs Ekatva Jain, Sahil Lunia, and Punit Jain, bridges the gap between inspiration and action. Its platform allows users to browse styled rooms and instantly shop every product via direct retail links creating a seamless, Pinterest-like discovery and commerce experience. "Roomstory doesn't just show you a beautiful room, it hands you the exact tools to recreate it," said CEO Jain. The company aims to tap into India's USD 76 billion home and interior shopping opportunity, a sector growing at 30 per cent CAGR through 2027. Investors believe Roomstory's visual-first commerce approach, powered by AI, is poised to disrupt a space long underserved by technology. "This is a bold, intuitive idea rooted in deep design expertise," said Archana Jahagirdar, Founder and Managing Partner at Rukam Sitara Fund.


The Verge
an hour ago
- The Verge
The Verge staff on the Switch 2: what we love and what we don't
The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally, officially out, and Verge staffers have spent a bunch of time playing with it. The new console has a lot of improvements, like a bigger screen and an extra USB-C port. There's a bunch of games to play, too, including a new Mario Kart and nice updates to older games. Here's our impressions of our first few days with the Switch 2. Our full review is coming soon. Bigger screen I wish the Switch 2 had an OLED screen, particularly considering the price, but this 7.9-inch, 1080p 120Hz panel absolutely makes my original 6.2-inch Switch seem like a bargain basement tablet by comparison. It's so much more real estate, it's crisper and clearer, navigating the UI feels smoother thanks to the high refresh rate, and I no longer feel like my field of vision is getting squeezed by loads of ugly bezel. But the Switch OLED already solved a few of those issues. And while reasonably bright, the Switch 2's screen can't compare to the Steam Deck OLED's amazingly bright and colorful HDR panel. — Sean Hollister, senior editor Old games on new console The Switch 2's slim launch lineup is supplemented by updates to some of the original Switch's most popular games — some free, some paid. In a lot of cases, the vision and ambition of these games stretched or even exceeded the capabilities of the original Switch hardware, and their performance on the Switch 2 is a drastic improvement. I'm glad some great games are finally able to escape the shackles of the original Switch and really shine, but it also highlights just how overdue the Switch 2's improvements really are. — Kallie Plagge, senior copy editor Only one color option? Speaking as a man with a bona fide Joy-Con collecting problem — I racked up six pairs for the Switch because I like all the colors and am bad at managing my money — it was bittersweet news that the Switch 2 only comes in black with tiny red and blue accents. It saved me from spending even more at launch, but that's only delaying the inevitable. Does it mean future Joy-Con designs will be similarly understated, with pops of color below the control sticks? Will we have to live with the knowledge that future colored controllers won't match the hidden accents on the console itself? Most importantly, will I be able to curb my collection compulsion this time around? — Dominic Preston, news editor The extra USB-C port To my surprise, my favorite change for the Switch 2 so far is the extra USB-C port on the top of the console. Maybe that's just because of the way I work: my desk is usually an overflowing pile of various gadgets and cables, so I like having the extra port on top for charging or plugging in a webcam for some Mario Kart (which I'm definitely only testing for work, pinky promise). —Jay Peters, news editor The original Switch wasn't comfortable to hold for an extended time, and I thought the Switch 2's larger size could remedy that. But to me, the Switch 2 might actually be worse. The slightly bigger Joy-Con 2 controllers give you a little more to wrap your fingers around in handheld mode, but they're not contoured like larger third-party gamepads or chunkier PC handhelds. The hard edge along the bottom of its Joy-Con 2 controllers digs into my palms when I'm leaning back on the couch. I felt noticeable discomfort after playing Mario Kart World in this position for less than an hour. By the end of my two-ish hour session, it was unbearable. Maybe my soft hands just aren't burly enough. (After all, I'm on the record complaining about uncomfortable cameras.) But I think the move from the original Switch Joy-Cons' rounded borders to the Switch 2's hard bottom edge is a small downgrade I'll have to work around. —Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer The mystique is gone There was so much hype ahead of the Switch 2's launch (even before its announcement) that it's impossible for a device to live up to it all. And yet, after a weekend with the Switch 2, it's great, though I'm surprised that all of my personal feelings of mystique surrounding it are gone. What it can or can't do is no longer a mystery, even if figuring out which webcams will work remains one. I agree with my colleague Andrew Webster who said in his in-progress testing that it's 'a pleasant upgrade, as opposed to a next-gen shift.' However, I'm disappointed that the mystique didn't stick around a little longer, like it did with the Steam Deck. Turns out, when a handheld doubles as a Linux PC, the possibilities feel limitless.