Johnny the Giant Killer

1950 Animation 80 minutes Directed by Jean Image

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About Johnny the Giant Killer

Johnny and his friends set out to drive an evil giant off their land. Inside the castle the giant traps the children and runs them through a machine that shrinks them. Johnny gets out, now the size of an insect, and lands in a war between bees and hornets. He has to win the insects over if they are going to help him bring his friends back.

Cast & crew

More about Johnny the Giant Killer

Jean Image directed and produced, with Charles Frank also directing. Charles Frank and Paul Colline wrote it, and it opened in France on December 13, 1950. A small crew spent a year and a half on it, and Lippert Pictures released it in the United States in 1953.

Themes

  • Children against a giant
  • A shrinking machine
  • Bees at war with hornets
  • An insect-sized rescue
  • giant
  • Johnny
  • bees
  • hornets
  • shrinking
  • castle
  • animation

Music

René Cloërec wrote the score.

Notes

  • Voices include Paul Colline, Fred Pasquali, Suzy Dornac, Jacques Tritsch, Georges Thibaut, and Marcel Quinton.
  • Kostia Tchikine is the credited cameraman.
  • It was the first feature-length animated film made in France.

Awards

  • Venice Film Festival Grand Prix for children's films

Scenes

  • The giant puts the children through the shrinking machine.
  • Insect-sized Johnny is caught between the bees and the hornets.

Influenced by

  • Hop-o'-My-Thumb

Influenced

  • Joe the Little Boom Boom (1960–1963)
  • Johnny in the Valley of the Giants (1973)