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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
Directors: Max Lang & Jan Lachauer
Release Date: December 25, 2012
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
One of the most interesting series to emerge in the 21st century were the BBC half hour specials based on children’s books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. This series was produced by Magic Light Pictures and mostly animated by Studio Soi in Germany.
Starting with the extraordinarily succesful ‘The Gruffalo’ (2009) these films prove not only to be very faithful to the source material, but to bring an unsurpassed plasticity to the computer animation, giving the characters the solidity of stop-motion. This is partly done by the animation itself, which practically never goes beyond what’s possible with stop motion puppets (for example there’s practically no squashing and stretching), and partly by giving them a clay-like texture.
But the makers’ secret ingredient is their use of real sets, thus placing the computer-created characters in fitting stop-motion worlds. This is so well-done you keep on wondering whether what you see is stop-motion or computer animated. This unique blend gives the film their specific and utterly charming character.
‘Room on the Broom’, the third entry in the series, is an excellent example. The story tells about a friendly witch who flies on a broom with her cat, but at times she drops something on the ground. This is then found by an animal who asks for a place on the broom. The repetition and rhyme no doubt work excellently for small children, but elder viewers will delight in the cat’s wordless reactions to his mistress’s enthusiastic invitations. His body language and facial expressions form the pinnacle of pantomime animation, but there are touches of wordless comedy on all the characters. In the end a ‘Town Musicians of Bremen’-like story twist is introduced.
Even if ‘Room on the Broom’ isn’t the undisputed classic ‘The Gruffalo’ certainly is, it’s still a delightful film, able to enchant both the young and old alike.
Watch the trailer for ‘Room on the Broom’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Room on the Broom’ is avalaible on DVD
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