Zarafa
Inspired by the true story of the first giraffe to visit France, Zarafa is a sumptuously animated and stirring adventure, and a throwback to a bygone era of hand-drawn animation and epic storytelling set among sweeping CinemaScope vistas of parched desert, wind-swept mountains and open skies. Under the cover of darkness a small boy, Maki, loosens the shackles that bind him and escapes into the desert night. Pursued by slavers across the moon-lit savannah, Maki meets Zarafa, a baby giraffe – and an orphan, just like him – as well as the nomad Hassan, Prince of the Desert. Hassan takes them to Alexandria for an audience with the Pasha of Egypt, who orders him to deliver the exotic animal as a gift to King Charles of France.
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Cast
11 people
Rémi Bezançon Director · Jean-Christophe Lie Director Alexander Abela Writer
Worldwide gross $12M · Budget $11M · United States release November 11, 2012
Box office
Budget
$10,750,000
Worldwide gross
$12,197,574
Gross vs. budget
1.1×
Production
France 3 Cinéma
Production
Prima Linéa Productions
Production
Chaocorp
Production
Pathé
Production
SCOPE Pictures
Production
Gkids
Production
NYAV Post
Production
Belgium · France
Produced in
Languages
Original language
French
Spoken on screen
French · German
Release dates
France · January 21, 2012
Premiere · L'Alpe d'Huez International Comedy Film Festival
France · January 25, 2012
Limited theatrical
United States · November 11, 2012
Limited theatrical · St. Louis International Film Festival
United States · July 3, 2015
Digital
United States
October 7, 2012 · Premiere · Hamptons International Film Festival
July 3, 2015 · Limited theatrical
Austria
October 12, 2012 · Digital
Belgium
February 15, 2012 · Theatrical
Canada
July 21, 2012 · Premiere · Fantasia International Film Festival
August 10, 2012 · Limited theatrical
Denmark
December 12, 2012 · Theatrical
December 12, 2012 · Digital
France
February 8, 2012 · Theatrical
February 8, 2012 · Digital
Germany
February 12, 2012 · Premiere · Berlin International Film Festival
October 11, 2012 · Theatrical
October 11, 2012 · Digital
Greece
November 8, 2012 · Theatrical
March 15, 2013 · Physical · DVD
Italy
April 4, 2013 · Digital
Netherlands
October 9, 2013 · Digital
Portugal
February 28, 2013 · Digital
South Korea
February 14, 2013 · Theatrical
Spain
July 19, 2013 · Theatrical
Switzerland
February 8, 2012 · Limited theatrical
United Kingdom
October 9, 2015 · Theatrical
February 1, 2016 · Physical · DVD
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Some details come from TheTVDB.