The King and the Mockingbird

Age 7 and up

With his expanded quartet, musician Chapelier Fou offers an inventive new take on the music of The King and the Mockingbird, the timeless masterpiece brought to life anew in this special film screening with live music.

In the kingdom of Takicardie, King Charles-V-and-Three-Makes-Eight-and-Eight-Makes- Sixteen rules as a megalomaniacal despot, oblivious to the nocturnal lives of the characters in the paintings and sculptures that fill his apartments. Among them are a shepherdess and a chimney sweep, whose love turns the kingdom upside down—with the help of a bird, the king’s sworn enemy.

A landmark of animated cinema by Paul Grimault and Jacques Prévert, adapted from a fairy tale by Andersen, The King and the Mockingbird was released in its definitive form in 1980 and has enchanted generations with its poetry and visual inventiveness. Louis Warynski, aka Chapelier Fou, pays tribute to the masterpiece that captivated him as a child, reimagining the scores by Wojciech Kilar and Joseph Kosma.

The musician expands his string quartet with a whole host of instruments—synthesisers, toy piano, melodica, trombone, trumpet, triangle, glockenspiel, autoharp and flutes— a wonderful assortment of instruments that would have tickled Prevert himself !

Violin and machinery Louis Warynski
Viola Maxime François
Cello Claire Moret
Violin Clément Oury

Animated film Le Roi et le Oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) (1952) Paul Grimault
based on texts by Jacques Prévert

Sound engineer Karim Aissaoui
Tour manager and videographer Charline Thiriet

^{Photo © Max Resdefault}