Born on the French Riviera, Michel Ocelot spent his childhood in Guinea, grew up in the Loire Valley and later settled in Paris.

He has devoted his entire career to animated films. From the beginning, all his work has been based on his scripts and graphics. Among his short films, he directed The 3 Inventors (1980, Bafta Award for Best Animated Film, London), followed by The Legend of the Poor Hunchback (1983, César Award for Best Animated Short, Paris). In 1998, Michel Ocelot became known to the general public with the success of his first feature film Kirikù and the Witch Karabà. He then made Princes and Princesses, fairy tales in a shadow theater, using the Cutout animation technique, and Kirikù and the Wild Animals, co-directed with Bénédicte Galup.
Azur and Asmar (2007), his fourth feature film, is another fairy tale, set on both sides of the Mediterranean. It was selected at the Cannes Film Festival for the Directors’ Fortnight. In late 2008, he released a DVD collection of his short films, The Hidden Treasures of Michel Ocelot, his entire life and work before Kirikù… In July 2011, and for the first time in 3D, he released The Tales of the Night, another Silhouette animation. It was the only French feature film to be selected for the 61st edition of the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival.
In 2012, Michel Ocelot finished shooting the new adventures of Kirikù, Kirikù and the Men and Women. He recently made a new feature film, Dilili in Paris, set during the Belle Epoque.
Born on the French Riviera, Michel Ocelot spent his childhood in Guinea, grew up in the Loire Valley and later settled in Paris.