THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD (Theatrical Release France/Britain 2012)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.0|5.0 Starsìììì

The Gruffalo’s Child—a short story spin-off of The Gruffalo—has great animation, but fails to surpass or to equal the quality of the first Gruffalo story. This film forgot that many audiences may not have seen the first film and therefore has many story gaps that create discontinuity. Nothing new or highly creative marks this movie. It seems that a sequel-type, spin-off film has been created just to make a movie rather than for fulfillment of artistic endeavor/entertainment’s sake, almost as if a movie was made for the money rather than for a sincere desire to entertain an audience. The reason for the film seems to be ‘let’s ride the success of the first film’ without due process allowed to the work involved in providing excellent entertainment.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

A parent Gruffalo warns its child about a bad mouse and the child ignores the parent’s advice.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Directors Uwe Heidschötter and Johannes Weiland for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Martin Pope and Michael Rose for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Mother Squirrel (Voice of Helena Bonham Carter), Gruffalo’s Child (Voice of Shirley Henderson), Gruffalo (Voice of Robbie Coltrane), Snake (Voice of Rob Brydon), Owl (Voice of John Hurt), Fox (Voice of Tom Wilkinson), Mouse (Voice of James Corden), Little Squirrel (Voices of Phoebe Givron-Taylor and Sam Lewis).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. If one wants to finish the series, watch this film. But, know that the movie ‘plays it safe’ and seems to adhere to a mental process that every film has to have its sequel/spin-off and the ‘let’s make one because we really do not have to put much time, money, or thought into entertainment nor do we need anything fresh to compliment the first film.'

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers