A colorfully compelling kids flick with darker historical undertones “Zarafa” is the tale of a boy and his giraffe that tackles the seldom-depicted French slave trade.

Beautifully animated, this French-Belgian feature tells the true, early 19th-century story of a giraffe imported from Africa as a gift for King Charles. A cross-continental adventure that doesn’t shy from the horrors of the colonial era, Zarafa gives its Disney contemporaries a run for their money.