Zarafa (2012) on Netflix
TV-PG20121h 18mAdventureAnimationFamily
Maki, an orphan sold into slavery, escapes the trader Moreno and protects a young giraffe. Hassan, a Bedouin prince, brings them to Alexandria, where the Pasha wants the giraffe sent to France.
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- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.9/102,032 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes75%
Trailer
Plot summary
An old storyteller recounts the tale to a group of children. In Sudan, Maki, a ten-year-old orphan sold into slavery, escapes the trader Moreno and finds a mother giraffe with a calf; he promises to protect the young animal. When Moreno catches up, the Bedouin prince Hassan steps in. Hassan names the calf Zarafa and, though reluctant, takes Maki and the giraffe along on his mission to Alexandria, where the Pasha of Egypt Mehemet Ali wants to send a giraffe to King Charles X of France as a gift meant to win French support against the Ottomans. The aeronaut Malaterre agrees to carry Zarafa to Paris by hot-air balloon.
Cast
- Max Renaudin Prattas Maki
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Zarafa (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Catherine Vadon, a lecturer at the National Museum of Natural History, said the film ignores historical truth, arguing the real giraffe was well treated on its journey and at the Jardin des Plantes; the Museum answered the film with an exhibition titled The True Story of Zarafa.
- Director Rémi Bezançon based the screenplay on the giraffe given to Charles X by Méhémet Ali, but deliberately skipped historical accuracy to make an extraordinary adventure, somewhat inspired by Jules Verne.
- The film shows the giraffe offered to Charles X as a bid by Egypt's Pasha Ali for French help against the Ottomans, but that war came years later, Alexandria was never besieged, and the real gift was meant to keep Franco-Egyptian diplomatic ties.
- At the time of the giraffe Zarafa's journey, Sudan did not exist as a country, the name then denoting a larger region called Negroland, and no European slave traders worked there, since the slave trade was practiced by Arabs.
