Back to the future of Tales for all

An orphan, a lonely uncle, a tame skunk. Nearly 40 years after the release of Bach and Bottinethe novelty scenario M^lle Ankle boot takes up the key elements of this popular Tale for All which charmed families in the 1980s. This series of films so memorable for so many Quebecers is experiencing a new lease of life. Overview of the past and future of Tales for All.

1971

The Christmas Martian is a Tale for All released… before the creation of Tales for All. “First feature film for children in the entire history of Quebec cinema”, as underlined The Press in 1970, the film by Bernard Gosselin, in which Marcel Sabourin plays an extraterrestrial, was co-produced by Films Faroun, a distribution house founded in 1965 by a certain Rock Demers. “Number zero” or “ancestor of Tales for All”: The Christmas Martian is referred to in different ways in the archives.

1984

Four years after founding Productions La Fête, Rock Demers launched the very first Tale for All: The tuque war. Forty years later, the feature film remains the most popular of the franchise. Certain lines, including the unforgettable “War, war is no reason to get hurt”, resonate in the collective imagination. “You don’t make a film thinking that it will be a cult work. We just want to make the best film possible. I think the children learned from this film the pleasure of doing something together, like building a snow castle,” confided to The Pressin 2015, director André Melançon, while an animated version of this classic was being prepared.

1986

Featuring Mahée Paiement and Raymond Legault, Bach and Bottine hit the screens a little before Christmas, in 1986. In 10 weeks, the third Tale for All collected more than 1 million dollars at the box office. The story of Fanny, a young rebellious orphan forced to go and live with her uncle whom she does not know, touches Quebecers, but also foreign audiences – just like many works in the franchise over the years. In 1994, UNESCO chose this feature film by André Melançon as “the film that all children should see with their parents”.

1988

Asked in 2003 about the films of which he is most proud, Rock Demers names The tuque war, Bach and Bottine et The frog and the whaleby Jean-Claude Lord, sixth Tale for All released in 1988. “Films that have toured the world, from Ouagadougou to Shanghai”, we specify in the article from The Press. The year 1988 was also the year when the public discovered Raiders of the Lost Stamp. In an interview on the sidelines of its release, Rock Demers explains why he makes films for children aged 9 to 13: “Because it is the most distressing period – I remember – when children are preparing to leaving early childhood to do the hard learning of autonomy. At this time in their lives, they desperately need bridges, values ​​to cling to, models. »

2001

Vincent and I (1990), The champion (1991), Piggy bank, tricks and company (1992): during the 1990s, releases of Tales for All continued at a sustained pace, without however being as successful as the first feature films. Never mind, “Contes pour tous” and “cinema” now go hand in hand in the minds of young Quebecers, according to a study carried out by the Institut québécois du cinéma in 1993. Ten years ago, it was rather “Disney” that primary school students called when we talked to them about 7^e art. In 2001, the release of The hanging fortressa film with a nod to The tuque war directed by Roger Cantin, arouses a lot of enthusiasm.

2014

Twenty-fourth film in the series, The outlaw gangby Jean Beaudry, is the latest Tale for All produced by Rock Demers. Met by The Press on the sidelines of filming, in 2013, the producer confided that if he had slowed down the pace of releases, it was “because it was increasingly difficult to finance”. The following year, he sold Productions La Fête to filmmaker Dominic James. The father of Tales for All dies on August 17, 2021.

2023

Tales for All survives its creator thanks to the release of Firm coconut. The public is there. Directed by Sébastien Gagné, the film, whose main characters are young entrepreneurs, collected more than $500,000 at the box office. The 25th^e franchise title marks the start of a new era.

2024

Contrary to what one might think, M^lle Ankle boot is not the 26^e Tale for everyone. “Les Contes pour tous is truly a model of film that highlights child protagonists,” explains Dominic James, president of La Fête, co-producer and screenwriter of the film. However, in M^lle Ankle bootthe story focuses on the character of Simone (Marguerite Laurence), but also on that of Philippe (Antoine Bertrand). “La Fête also makes films for the general public which are not Tales for All,” he says. However, if the public wishes to consider M^lle Ankle boot like a Tale for everyone, he is not offended.

2025

What will be the next films in the series? My mother-in-law is a witchwhich will begin filming soon, should be released in theaters in the fall of 2025. La Fête productions are also working on an adaptation of the graphic novel The little astronaut, by Jean-Paul Eid. Dominic James would like to continue releasing one film per year.