France can compete with the Hollywood studios in terms of animation savoir-faire, but not in terms of box-office figures. France is a small country, and the Americans are the masters of the world - for cinema, it's true.

If I need something, I just draw it, have a few friends make it move, and it exists. I enjoy this strange power. I try to be a good sorcerer, though.

I like to make people happy, and with fairy tales, I can say anything I want to, but in an agreeable way.

Fairy tales are my natural language. I feel at ease telling fairy tales like a fish feels in water. I am totally free.

France can compete with the Hollywood studios in terms of animation savoir-faire, but not in terms of box-office figures. France is a small country, and the Americans are the masters of the world - for cinema, it's true.

I never seem to be able to sell my films correctly in the U.S. The U.S. defends itself on its own turf.

My inspiration is my life, what I see happening around me. It can be history and, quite often, plain traditional fairy tales. But I never adapt; I nourish myself with old stories, and then create my own tales.