The Magic Roundabout film review

certificate_U

THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT

Created in the mid-60s by Frenchman Serge Danot, Le Manege Enchante became hugely popular in the United Kingdom when Eric Thompson (father of actress Emma) took the original animation, rewrote it completely, and rechristened it The Magic Roundabout. With its psychedelic feel and hippy ethic, the show was embraced by the watching baby boomers, and its short ten-minute appearances at tea-time became something of a national institution.

Thirty years on the big screen remake arrives, and it's a wonder what parents and children alike will make of it. Stretching such a short show into a feature-length film was always going to be tricky, and this anodyne English-French production falls notably short in the script department. While there is the odd amusing moment, it's a curiously limp animated affair which may make children wonder why their parents have taken them to the cinema in the first place. There's simply not enough quality nostalgia for older viewers to really enjoy, while youngsters may well scratch their heads as to what the fuss is all about.

The setting and characters are more or less true to the form of the original, with Dougal, Zebedee, Florence, Dylan, Ermintrude and Brian all enjoying an idyllic existence around the eponymous roundabout. Their happiness is shattered when the evil Zeebad comes to town, freezes their funfair with Florence stuck in it, and springs off to do the same to the rest of the world. The five characters set out to prevent this happening and for reasons best known to the scriptwriters, must find three precious diamonds before their evil nemesis does so. It's a sort of animated mixture of Lord of the Rings and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but without the thrills, humour or impact of either.

The cast battle gamely through a less than sparkling script: Robbie Williams voices a decent Dougal, full of beans and determined to save Florence. Joanna Lumley is the all-singing Ermintrude, Ian McKellen has more than a touch of the Gandalf about him as Zebedee and Bill Nighy plays the perpetually stoned Dylan (although a U certificate only allows the most subtle of drug references). Tom Baker continues his career revival as arch-enemy Zeebad, whose name indicates the level of humour that pervades throughout the film (Zeebadee geddit?).