Download The Snail And The Whale/Zog And The Flying Doctors; movie review
Sunday, October 24, 2021
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Cert U
52 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very mild injury detail, threat, violence
Need to calm young kids down for an hour or two? I reckon that these beautiful animations could be just the job.
The Snail And The Whale and Zog And The Flying Doctors have been pulled together to create an hour of storytelling which is neither brash nor loud.
Nevertheless, it is exciting and the adventures have plenty of action to accompany some subliminal moral messages.
The Snail And The Whale is based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s children’s book and is the uplifting tale of a tiny but ambitious snail (voiced by Sally Hawkins) who longs to see the world.
He tells this to a huge humpback whale (Rob Brydon) who offers to give him a ride and some wonderful adventures ensure.
Thereafter, Lenny Henry narrates as Zog (Hugh Skinner) the dragon becomes an air-ambulance who flies with purpose but lands with a crash-bang-thump.
Together with his Flying Doctor crew, Princess Pearl (Patsy Ferran) and Sir Gadabout (Daniel Ings), they tend to a sunburnt mermaid, a unicorn with two horns and a lion with the flu.
But Pearl’s uncle, the King (Brydon), believes that princesses should prepare for royal duties and locks her up in his castle.
Children will lap up the humour and the fight for good of the princess, probably unaware of being assailed by important life messages.
It is a lovely double bill and if you can't catch it at the cinema, both episodes are currently available on BBC iPlayer.
Reasons to watch: Beautiful animated storytelling
Reasons to avoid: Shame the films are so short
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10
Did you know? Macmillan Children’s Books, Marine Management Organisation and Natural England created ‘The Snail and the Whale Coastal Adventure’ booklet to encourage families to explore England's Coastal Path. It matches animals to their coastal homes and includes fun marine animal facts to advise about keeping our coasts free from marine litter.
The final word. Writer, Julia Donaldson: "It taps into a lot of basic things - the yearning to travel, the yearning to see the world, the size, the scale, the way of the big and small coming together. It's a fable saying that little in a superficially unassuming way can help someone very obviously big and powerful." BT.com
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