Kérity, la maison des contes (French language)

Seven-year-old Natanaël still doesn’t know how to read and he has been bequeathed his eccentric old aunt’s book collection to the young boy. Nat soon discovers that the characters of the books are counting on him for protection – they mustn’t leave the library. Eleanor’s Secret (original French title Kérity, la maison des contes) is a 2009 French-Italian animated feature film directed by Dominique Monféry. The film tells the story of a young boy who must save a group of fairy tale characters that have come to life.
Seven-year-old Nathaniel and his older sister Angelica move into their eccentric Aunt Eleanor’s home, which was given to their parents after she passed away. Angelica frequently teases her little brother for traits that she perceives as immature, such as his inability to read. When they arrive at the house, Nathaniel becomes curious about what lies in the locked room that his aunt never allowed him to enter. Much to Angelica’s dismay, in her will, Eleanor states that she wants to give Nathaniel the key to the room. To Angelica, she bestows a porcelain doll. Nathaniel enters the room alone and is horrified to discover that the room is filled with books — the tales this his aunt used to read to him — this results in him running out of the room.

In the night, the house is severely damaged by a thunderstorm. Since his parents lack the funds to repair it, Nathaniel offers to allow them to sell the books. When he returns to the attic room he discovers that the miniature forms of the characters in the books have come to life. Among them are Alice in Wonderland, Puss in Boots, Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood. They declare that he is their new guardian, and it is his duty to read the magic spell that will keep them alive, otherwise they will disappear within the next 5 hours. Nathaniel panics when he finds that he is unable to read the spell, and the evil witch Carabosse accuses him of not being their guardian; in retaliation, she decides to shrink him down to their size.

The antique seller arrives and is delighted to discover that many of the books are first editions. He devises a plan to play them off as worthless in order to resell at a much higher price. Nathaniel and all the characters are taken to the seller’s shop, forcing them to have to find a way to return to Aunt Eleanor’s house in order to read the spell. He travels with Alice and an Ogre, who learns to value friendship over the immediate satiation derived from eating humans.

The group encounters many perils in their journey back including other humans and a crab on the beach, but when they arrive, Nathaniel is finally able to prove himself and read the spell aloud. He returns to the seller’s shop and forces the witch to restore him to his normal size. Nathaniel then convinces his parents that the books have too much value to sell away. Angelica discovers a collection of valuable jewelry within her doll, giving the family the money they need to repair the house. The two siblings learn to value each other and enjoy reading together in the attic. #0921