Film Review
Another blast from the past, and one of the unlikeliest to hit cinema
screens in 2005, was this souped up revival of one of the most fondly
remembered animation series ever made. Anyone who was a child
in the UK or France in the '60s and '70s will remember the bizarre
antics of Dougal, Florence and their surreal band of friends, in their
psychedelic world which was so obviously conceived under the influence
of strong hallucinogenic drugs. If this film fails in all else,
at least it will succeed in evoking happy memories of childhood
television at its weird best.
The Magic Roundabout was the brain child of a Frenchman, Serge Danot.
He employed a time-consuming special effects technique known as
stop-motion animation, which Ray Harryhausen had used so successfully
in his films
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and
Jason and the
Argonauts (1963). In France, the series was entitled
Le
Manège enchanté and its star, the long-haired
sugar-obsessed dog, was named Pollux. The success of the
series in France was matched in the UK, thanks in part to Eric
Thompson's brilliant re-writing and narration of the stories.
The series consisted of around five hundred five-minute long episodes and
was broadcast in the UK on BBC1 at 5.40 pm on consecutive weekdays (just before the early evening news), from 1965 to 1977.
Much of the charm of original
The Magic Roundabout series was the fact
that there was nothing like it. The characters, the setting, the
stories were so unfamiliar, so insanely off-the-wall, that it
captivated both adults and children and is still considered one of the
most imaginative works in the history of animation. The film
adaptation does not have anything like this individuality - it is just
another glorious feast of 3D CGI animation, with little to distinguish
it from the countless other glorious feasts of 3D CGI animation that
are fighting for our attention.
This next-generation
The Magic Roundabout looks so different from the
original series that its nostalgia value is limited. The biggest
let down is the storyline, which is an unimaginative rehash of Lord of
the Rings meets Raiders of the Lost Ark. Most adults watching the
film will be disappointed and will see little in it to evoke fond
memories of the classic 1960s series. Children, however, will
probably love it for its colourful effects, self-deprecating humour,
cheery pop songs, and boisterous sense of fun.
For both the British and French releases of the film, the characters
are voiced by some very big-name actors and personalities, although
this failed to prevent the film from being an immense flop.
Ian McKellen and Tom Baker and play Zebedee and his evil twin
Zebad in the British version, with Joanna Lumley as Ermintrude, Robbie
Williams as Dougal, Kylie Minogue as Florence and Bill Nighy making a
wonderful Dylan. The French version features such stars as Michel
Galabru, Vanessa Paradis and Henri Salvador. So much talent, and
yet even this is not enough to bring us the magic of that totally
unique TV series which became a cultural icon of the most wonderfully
bizarre kind. Some things just cannot, and perhaps should not, be brought
up to date.
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Whilst his friends are enjoying an outdoor music concert, Dougal, the
world's most follicly endowed dog, looks for his next sugar trip, and
ends up crashing a sweet trolley into the Magic Roundabout. The
impact releases the evil Zeebad, arch-enemy of the friendly
spring-bottomed magician Zebedee, from the roundabout, where he has
been held prisoner for centuries. Zeebad's first act is to freeze
the roundabout, imprisoning Florence in ice, before setting out to
locate the three diamonds that will allow him to freeze the whole world
forever. Florence's friends - Dougal, Zebedee, the hippy rabbit
Dylan, the opera singing cow Ermintrude and the worldly wise snail
Brian - climb aboard a magic train and embark on a desperate quest to
find the diamonds before Zeebad...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.