Zarafa

Empire by

The film veers from quasi-real to cartoonily silly and scenes either drag or whirl by too fast.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by Bilge Ebiri

The patient storytelling and the elegant and colorful hand-drawn animation combine to give the film a pleasing, picture-book-like quality that should appeal to kids; there’s something very old-school about the film’s aesthetic. But in some senses, it also feels like a blast of fresh air, not the least because of where, and on whom, it chooses to place its focus.

Variety by Boyd van Hoeij

While the gorgeous widescreen landscapes have a pencil-and-aquarelle quality, the characters themselves are literally rougher-edged, a clever reminder of the hand-drawn, sketchlike quality of traditional animation.

The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer

Using a wide-ranging color palette that shifts from the warmer hues of the Sahara desert to the colder, sadder blues and grays of old-time Paris, Lie and his team provide a pared-down animation technique that recalls classic Disney, albeit with a rougher, at times abstract touch.

The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold

Zarafa may not be the most groundbreaking feat of storytelling, but it does have a giraffe in a balloon.

Village Voice by Sherilyn Connelly

Beautifully animated and often moving.

The Dissolve by Tasha Robinson

Everything about the way this story is rendered makes it feel much bigger than the characters and their limited travails can make it.

Time Out London by Tom Huddleston

Zarafa never pauses for breath, rattling from one hasty, perfunctory sequence to another.