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| Prévert and Grimault during the production of the film, 1947 |
I won't tell you the rest of the production's story, partially because I myself don't know or understand all of it. Unfortunately most of the documentation on this film is in French or Japanese, and much of that hasn't even been digitized. Google Translate isn't of much help either. But, anyway, as production continued it got closer to going over budget. Sarrut was taking too much on at once and became nervous on whether or not they could make back their money and please financers. Because of this, over time, Sarrut began laying off animators and crew, including, unfortunately, Grimault himself. The next two years is shrouded in a bit of mystery, but the film was "completed," hastily, and Sarrut presented himself as the great savior of the film, much to Grimault's irritation. The film was released not at all to Grimault and Prévert's satisfactions, even being called unfinished. They disapproved to such a degree that they had their names removed from the film entirely.
It was, however, a favorable success. Seeing a release across the globe and finding an incredible success in Japan, where it was adapted into a manga and is cited by Studio Ghibli founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata as massive inspirations in their career of animation.
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| The manga adaption, published in 1955 |
What's strange, however, is its release in the United States. Unlike most theatrical releases at the time which got ads in the newspaper and magazines, trailers at the drive-in-theater and the occasional street poster, this film recieved none of that. In fact, though it was released in France in 1953 and Japan in 1955, the United States wouldn't see it until late 1956. It was dubbed in English and titled The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird,. The earliest mention of a screening is in the Buffalo Courier Express, on December 22nd, 1956, being screened at the Paramount Theatre. (Not the Paramount, but the one probably on 612 Main Street.)
From what I can find, this is the earliest mention of the film in any American newspaper. No advertising, not a mention of its future release, it simply popped up. Later the following year it would pop up again and again in children's matinee screenings at churches, museums, and dollar theaters. The strangest part is there is no distribution company attached to the film. No company on the poster, any news coverage, or the film itself. At a specific screening in 1961 organized by the University of California Extension, the coordinator couldn't even figure out when it was from, just four years after simply appeared in the U.S. I can't really blame him. Today it seems impossible to track down how exactly it came to the United States to begin with.
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The San Bernardino County Sun, Jul 9th, 1961 |
The film would be screened rarely for the next few decades at libraries and universities as a free, public film. By this point, in 1967, Grimault had gained the rights for the film again and between 1977-1980, completed it how he and Prévert had intended, now titled Le Roi et l'Oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird.) This version of the film has a fair amount of additions and changes from the original unfinished 1952 version. However, in my honest opinion, much of the additions were unnecessary and can sometimes be quite jarring in their difference in animation.
In the 90s, Mr. Wonderbird began appearing on television. Copyright law when Mr. Wonderbird was released was funny. You had to have a copyright notice and registration of said copyright with the copyright office in order to be protected. Wonderbird had neither of these things. Therefore, it was forfeited to the public domain immediately upon release. Because of this, Wonderbird was shown again and again on any television network that wanted to screen it. As VHS became more affordable, it would soon be released on there as well, and later in the 2000s it found its final home on a DVD released by Digiview. Using an ancient, ratty, faded Technicolor (maybe) print, this is the only copy available to anyone in the public, likely using the same telecine master that the VHS tapes used just 20 years beforehand.
Interestingly, though Wonderbird was a fairly easy film to acquire for any projectionist of the 20th century, I have not seen a single print surface online. Quite literally the only copy of the English dub I've seen anywhere is the same ratty public domain release. The original French version is nowhere to be found by the public, sitting in France's film archive. The Japanese dub, as well as any other dub also aren't available anywhere.
Many animation-fanatics now regard The King and the Mockingbird as one of the best animated features ever made. Yet, funnily enough, English documentation on it is sparse. And even that documentation in its native French language is hard to come by. (Especially legally.) Those who love this movie also tend to hate on the unfinished version that was released in 1952, and to that I say they deserve equal respect. Grimault considers them separate films, and they should be treated as such. Just as the film was considered a novelty in the past, I think many still consider it such today. People watch it because they're told its an incredible moment in animation history instead of it being a fantastic story with an incredible art style. I hardly see any fan art for this film even though it's supposed to be so amazing. It's almost like hardly anyone really engages with the film itself and only watches it through a pane of glass like an artifact. We Americans can treat these birds better.
You can watch The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird here
You can watch The King and the Mockingbird here
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