August 21, 2003, will go down as a red-letter day for French animated films in Russia.
After more than a decade of total absence from Russian screens, French animated films have at last been welcomed with open arms by the full range of Russian distributors.
It was over to "Les Enfants de la pluie" to lead the way last week, launched on a first-rate 36-print release by West Video, who, in the wake of the success of "Brotherhood of the Wolf" and "Belphegor" in 2001 and "Sweat" in 2002, are showing increasing interest in French fare.
As regards animated films, West Video has scheduled to release "Kaena, la prophétie" ("Kaena: The Prophesy") October 30, one week before Pan-Terra launches 40 prints of "Les Triplettes de Belleville" on Russian screens. They will be followed by "Le Roi et l’oiseau" (Central Partnership), "L’Enfant qui voulait être un ours" (Ruscico) and "Corto Maltese" (Pyrine Film), with "Astérix et les Vikings" waiting in the wings, bought by none other than West Video.
Initial results for "Enfants de la pluie" show promise for a bright future for French animated films in this territory.

Joël Chapron