London Children’s Film Festival 2007: Teaching Resource
Le Ballon Rouge and Crin Blanc (U)
Two classic short French films about young children with unusual friends, both
directed by Albert Lamorisse.
Audiences
Both films are suitable for all audiences.
English: Identify the means and purposes of communication and language in each
film. (En1/2d)
Music: Discover how live music can be used to communicate different moods and
effects (Mu/4b)
Synopsis
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The Red Balloon (Le Ballon Rouge) (1956)
The classic short film which allows a child’s imagination to take flight, The Red
Balloon follows a small boy and his new friend, a big red balloon, around his home
town. From shops to school, from alleys to hillsides, the balloon is in turns poetic,
sad, cheeky and adventurous. Music plays a key role in setting the mood which
leads us to a magical finale across the rooftops.
White Mane (Crin Blanc) (1952)
Crin Blanc is a proud stallion who lives with a herd of wild horses in the Camargue
region of southern France. The only human he will allow close to him to tame him is
a young fisher boy called Folco. As their friendship grows, they set off to find the
freedom denied to them by the locals.
Suggested Classroom Activities
English

You are the boy with the red balloon. Write your diary of the day when the
balloon followed you. Remember to say how you felt, including your time at
school, and your exchange with the bullies.

Think of as many words as you can to describe the balloon. Now use a
thesaurus to find alternative words to expand your vocabulary!

There is no dialogue in the film. In groups, write your own script for the film.

Both Folco and Crin Blanc are looking for freedom. What do they want to
escape? Do you think they find what they are looking for? Write about the
end of the film. How did it make you feel?
Geography

The red balloon follows the little boy through the streets of Paris. If you were
setting the film in London, what things would you want the balloon to go
past?
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
The white horses are from a particular part of France, called the Camargue.
Find out about that area. Where is it? What is its landscape like?

We see lots of different animals in Crin Blanc. Try and remember as many as
you can.

Both of these films were made in the 1950s. Find out how the areas seen in
the films have changed since then. Are they seen in any other films?
History

People have been riding horses for thousands of years. Find out about the
history of horse-riding. What kind of saddles did people use? What did
people use horses for? Where did horses come from? Draw pictures of
different people riding horses and make a timeline of human-horse history on
your classroom wall. You could even visit a city farm or stable to see real
horses.
Maths

Work out how much it would cost for your whole class to visit Paris and then
the Camargue. You need to decide if you want to travel by train or by plane.
Include transport from London to Paris, then from Paris to the Camargue, and
back to London.
Drama

One person needs to be a teacher, while the others are students. Pretend that
the teacher’s class is being interrupted by a number of different events, and
react in an appropriate way.

Walk around the room slowly. The teacher will call out different objects which
they can see in the sky. You need to stop and react to the different things (a
balloon, a spaceship, Superman, a large bird, a pterodactyl…)

Even though the balloon is not alive, it seems to have a personality. Your
teacher is going to call out other things which are not alive, and then
emotions. Can you combine the two, and be a happy toaster, or a sad hat?

Split into two teams. One team is horses, and the other is ranchers. The
ranchers stand in the middle of the room, while all the horses need to try and
get from one end of the room to the other without being caught. Remember
to act like a horse!
© Barbican Education 2007
Art and Design

Each member of the class needs to draw or paint a London building. When
they are all finished, stick them all together to form a large class painting to
go on your classroom wall. Blow up a red balloon and hang it above your
artwork. You could even put photos of your class among the buildings,
looking up at the balloon.
Music

Music is very important in both films to help create a mood. What mood do
you think it creates at different points in the film? Are different instruments
suited to different moods?
French

Both of these films are French, though there is not much dialogue in either
film. Try and remember the words you heard. Now write some other
sentences for the characters to say.
Weblinks
www.parccamargue.fr/English/index.php?callback=loadcpage&page_id=333&site_id=3
Information about the Camargue region of France
http://www.languedoc-france.info/07020202_camarguehorses.htm
Camargue horses
http://www.paris.org/
Find out about Paris
Both films are very difficult to find on DVD. However, you can find clips on Youtube
at:
Crin Blanc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLRp0-B5sU8
Le Ballon Rouge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGgX212Pn7A
www.filmstreet.co.uk
Learn how to make and review films online
© Barbican Education 2007
Recommended Reading
Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
Another tale of horses being mistreated, this time set in Victorian London
Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmanns
Classic children’s story of a naughty little girl’s adventures in Paris
We suggest that teachers check the suitability of recommended books, films,
websites and other media for the children in their care before use. London Children’s
Film Festival cannot be responsible for the content of any recommended media,
including websites.
© Barbican Education 2007
© Barbican Education 2007
© Barbican Education 2007