At a point in the director interview for their film, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes), co-directors Maïlys Vallade (The Lighthouse Keeper) and Liane-Cho Han (Voodoo) discuss the Japanese belief that children under the age of three are considered “gods.” It’s not until their third birthday that their sense of others and things around them grows enough that children are viewed as “having lowered themselves to join” the request of humanity. It’s from here that their film begins, albeit based on the 2000 autobiographical novel The Character of Rain (Métaphysique des tubes) from Belgian author Amélie Nothomb. Using a combination of artistic styles throughout, Little Amélie grabbed audiences with its beauty and charm, capturing the conflicting experience of being small with gentleness and empathy while exploring the difficulty of existing in a world filled with heartbreak. After a theatrical release in November, the Critics Choice Award and Oscar-nominated family dramedy released on digital in December and now is accessible with a physical edition that includes over an hour of bonus materials to explore the making of the film.
Born in Japan to a Belgian family, little Amélie (voiced by Emmylou Homs and narrated by Loïse Charpentie) exists in a vegetative state, spending the first two years of her life in a proverbial bubble in which everything moves around her while she maintains a sense of largess within her mind. But all of this changes one day when an earthquake shakes her free, requiring her to acclimate to life with her parents and siblings; something that she’s reluctant to do. That is, until the arrival of her grandmother, Claude (voiced by Cathy Cerdà), whose warm and generous spirit (plus some chocolate) cause the young Amélie to see that maybe there are things in this world worth exploring. Between her grandmother and her caregiver Nishio (voiced by Victoria Grosbois), Amélie starts to embrace living, but doing so also means opening herself to the unique heartbreaks that living among mortals brings.
Amélie voiced by Emmylou Homs/narrated by Loïse Charpentie in LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, 2 Minutes, France 3 Cinema, Puffin Pictures, 22D Music.
Little Amélie is a feature-film directorial debut for both Vallade and Han, who worked together on other projects in the animation department for films like Long Way North (2015) and The Little Prince (2015). So fully realized is this project that nothing audiences observe within Little Amélie speaks to creatives in the director’s chair for the first time. The way that they present Amélie’s absence of self in the opening of the story, the specific and controlled perspective, the narrative, and the animation itself, are so precise that one presumes the filmmakers to have directed before. Perhaps it’s because of their time working as animators or storyboard artists, they’ve crafted something which is unquestionably unique, delightful in its capturing of its subject, and entirely human (despite the water color-esque style). One finds themselves captivated almost immediately by the film once Amélie exists her cocoon and joins her family. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a father of two and my youngest shares a few traits with Amélie (they’re still working on their sense of self compared to others), her story feels both universal and unique, the characterization created through the combined efforts of the directors and vocal performance making a child that one can see for the spicy ball of Id rather than as a troubled figure. Even as the film utilizes both personal loss and the larger cultural loss in post-World War II Japan as part of Amélie’s character journey (each one challenging the young figure’s sense of identity), neither feel particularly heightened or manipulative, but do feel integral to the larger concept of what it means to be a part of a very complex world and biological system with an abrupt beginning and (sometimes) abrupt end. Therefore, the choices we make in the middle carry so much weight and intention, an element which can be difficult for young minds to understand when they themselves have only recently begun to understand what “self” is. Much in the same way that we adults often have to step out of the way and “allow” our children to explore the world without a support system, we, the audience, are privy to Amélie experiencing various tragedies and are unable to comfort or console. It’s a miracle that we think we even could.
L-R: Amélie voiced by Emmylou Homs/narrated by Loïse Charpentie and Nishio voiced by Victoria Grosbois in LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, 2 Minutes, France 3 Cinema, Puffin Pictures, 22D Music.
The bonus features are where fans of the film can not only get a few questions answered, but also learn a bit about the perspective that shaped what we see on screen in the adaptation process (from novella to animated film). The first is a 14-minute interview with Vallade and Han at the GKIDS office in which they cover several things cut in multiple titled segments. They discuss the specific choice to shoot the film from Amélie’s POV (specifically her height), how the team accomplished this via 3D rendered environments, and how this influenced the structure of the film as a whole. One thing animation fans will enjoy in particular is the brief exploration of how Japanese animation (small project, small budget) served as a guide for making Little Amélie. It’s here that they discuss the Japanese perspective of children as young gods, the significance of water, and a great deal of other details that aren’t covered in the Animation Is Film Festival Q&A, also included. In that nearly-18-minute featurette, Vallade and Han (with a translator) answer questions from a moderator about the film post-screening. GKIDS frequently includes the Q&A from Animation Is Film Festival events (when the titles screened) and they’re always a treat to get a deeper sense of the film. Here, they discuss the inspiration for making the film (partially by one of Vallade’s kids), the relationship between Amélie and Nishio, why Amélie presumes she’s Japanese, and, of course, the visual style of the film. The Q&A is a nice compliment to the longer director interview as there’s very little overlap between them.
For those most interested in the animation process, there are two supplemental materials that you’ll want to explore. The first is a 25-minute Director Breakdowns section in which Vallade and Han cover three sequences from the film. Unlike other director breakdowns where filmmakers may use tools to markup the scene as they talk or go back-and-forth through a scene, here, Vallade and Han allow the scene to play out and hold a conversation over it, covering aspect both personal and professional about the moment. During each of the three sequences, titled “Difficult Lessons,” “Rebirth,” and “Coming Back,” the perspective shifts between us watching them chat in the GKIDS office with a viewing tablet on the table playing the scene and us viewing the final footage. There’s also a three-minute Animation Breakdowns section which only uses two sequences, titled “Garden” and “The Character of Rain,” in which the screen is split into four-portions (clockwise L-R: Storyboard, Layout, Final, and Animatic). As each scene plays out before us in unison, we’re able to observe the differences in each stage of the animation process.
Finally, there is an Art Gallery section that includes 154 images that autoplay upon selecting (running just over 12 minutes) and which can be controlled to advance or go back using one’s remote. The drawings in this section are presented on a white background and include a collection of sketches, character designs, and various evolutions. There’s no dialogue or sound over this portion.
Amélie voiced by Emmylou Homs/narrated by Loïse Charpentie in LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Maybe Movies, Ikki Films, 2 Minutes, France 3 Cinema, Puffin Pictures, 22D Music.
It’s important to note that regardless of whether a film is nominated for an award (or zero) and wins (or not), what the film means to you will always exist. All the better, distributors like Radial Entertainment (whom now house Shout! Studios) continue to put out physical editions of titles so that cinematic creations don’t just exist in the ephemera of memory. They can be something that you visit and revisit, even possibly pass down. With Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, it’s the sort of film that one can share with younger audiences and then dig into via the included supplemental materials. Sure, this won’t be of value to Amélie-aged viewers, but those for whom animation holds a special place and even possibly calls to them as a vocation, having access to these materials empowers them to pursue it more deeply. Win or lose, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain can be yours and sometimes, that’s enough.
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain Special Features:
- Interview with Directors Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han (14:25)
- Director Breakdowns (25:27)
- Art Gallery (12:27)
- Animation Breakdowns (3:24)
- Directors Q&A at Animation Is Film Festival (17:42)
- English language dub
Available on digital December 9th, 2025.
Available on Blu-ray March 10th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official GKIDS Films Little Amélie or the Character of Rain webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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