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.

One gets used to success very quickly. The surprise was how deep and enduringly I was touching people, in such different places and throughout generations.

I lost so much energy in taxis, planes, hotels, phone calls and interpreters. Now, with the help from my little successes, I do everything in the same place with everyone around me. That's how a good job gets done.

I'm never really nervous because I've done the maximum; now it's up to the audience to do its job.

No matter what the level of funding or success may be, there's always money missing, and you still want to have a gorgeous image, an endless cast and a flawless rendering.

The quality and success of Disney was actually bad for us animators because everyone on the planet thought that animation was only for kids and only in a certain domain. The big film festivals never thought much about animated films.

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.