The Snail and the Whale

Directors: Max Lang & Daniel Snaddon
Release date: December 25, 2019
Rating: ★★★½
Review:

‘The Snail and the Whale’ is yet another Magic Light Pictures production based on a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler book. Like all the books and films based on them since 2009’s ‘The Gruffalo’ the film is told in rhyme. But because this adventure takes place mostly at sea, there’s much more CGI involved than usual, and the film thus is less tactile than Magic Light Pictures earlier productions.

The story is cute and shows that even the smallest can make a difference. Yet, the film is less compelling than say ‘The Gruffalo’ (2009), ‘Room on the Broom‘ (2012) or ‘Stick Man’ (2015) and that’s because of the source material, which just isn’t on the same level of story telling. The small gags present in earlier films are also lacking, and for a too large part we just watch the little snail enjoy its travels without anything else happening.

The animation, of course, is top notch, and the designs are, as always, appealing, although the human figures are much less interesting than the animals, and the whale is rendered rather straight. You can also sense the difficulty of the interaction between the two animals, because of the gigantic size difference. The result is a charming film, if not among Magic Light Pictures’ best works.

Watch the trailer of ‘The Snail and the Whale’ yourself and tell me what you think:

‘The Snail and the Whale’ is available on DVD