The Unseen Movie Review

The Magic Roundabout

Yep – THAT Magic Roundabout. That self-same confusion piece of surreal children’s puppet animation which used to go out before the news, which gained a huge cult following during the 1960s and 1970s, and which still gets repeated on and off to this day.

Only it’s not quite as you may remember it. Dougal is there, as are Florence, Dylan, Ermintrude, Brian and Zebedee. But none of them seem to look quite the same, or sound quite the same. The old man who ran the roundabout, Mr McHenry, seems to have vanished, but he never really did much anyway.

In fact it’s other missing elements, all easy to miss at first, which explain the real difference between this film and the cult series we all know and love. Unfortunately all are missing because they are no longer with us. The first is Serge Danot, the series’ original French creator, who died in 1990. Also gone, last October, is Ivor Wood, the British animator who brought the characters so wonderfully to life. Danot’s original character designs and Wood’s instantly-recognisable, slightly jerky style of animation (he was also the man behind The Herbs, The Wombles and Paddington) have gone with them, updated to a computerised, slightly less amateurish look.

But for British viewers it is the loss of writer/narrator Eric Thompson, who died in 1982, which will be most regretted – as it was during the series’ brief revival in the early 1990s. Thompson’s surreal stories, based simply on Danot and Wood’s visuals and no idea of what the original French scripts were blathering on about, read with a laid back drawl, were to a large extent what made the series such a success during both its original broadcasts and the rather odd and largely forgotten 1972 film spin off, Dougal and the Blue Cat.

Instead of Thompson’s laconic tones voicing all the characters, the makers of this new version have brought in a broad array of British talent. Bill Nighy returns to the stoner rock star persona he adopted for Love, Actually as spaced-out Dylan the rabbit, Jim Broadbent does another of his bumblingly good natured turns as slow-witted snail Brian, Joanna Lumley plays to type as the posh cow Ermintrude, and Ian McKellen takes on another Gandalf-style role as the wise, all-knowing Zebedee. Backing them up are the likes of Lee Evans, RayWinstone, Tom Baker (as the evil bouncing nemesis ZeBadDee) and, in a move which has worried many fans, pop stars Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue as the two central characters of the original series, Dougal the dog and the little girl Florence.

Bizarrely, both Williams and Minogue are really rather good, showing talents for voices which even their most ardent fans may not have suspected them of possessing. But then, old Robbie was actually rather good in 1999’s animated Christmas TV special Robbie the Reindeer, and Kylie did start out as an actress of sorts. Perhaps we should have guessed they could pull it off.

Unsurprisingly, considering the fact that this film is feature-length, rather than five minutes like the episodes of the original, and that none of the original creative team are involved, it’s not quite what we all may remember. There is also excitement and adventures aplenty, which were rare things in the non-plots we all used to love, but it still somehow manages to remain true to its inspiration. There is enough of what we loved to still appeal to old fans, and plenty to convert a new generation to the antics of Dougal and pals – don’t be put off by the changes.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM