Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be

Nostalgia is childhood insignificance seen through the prism of your personal kaleidoscope. Unfortunately, I didn't recognize any of these images at coming from my own spiritual photo album. This animated biopic of a cartoon character created by writer René Goscinny (Astérix & Obélix, Iznogoud) and artist Jean-Jacques Sempé (New Yorker covers) made me miss Charlie Brown, so I can totally understand how it would connect viewers to their pasts, but it just didn't take me to mine. The original comics follow a typical child growing up in the suburbs of Paris between 1956 and 1965, and so delivers a wholesome brand of lost innocence that parents will gladly sip with their lips from the cup of reminiscence. However, their children may get restless in the absence of any Disney princesses and confused by the abrupt switches from Little Nicolas stories to biographic scenes of his creators. In short, the movie may be better at stirring up memories than it is at making them.