Kidnapped

Generally I have liked Burbank Films Australia's output. There have been some like Don Quixote and The Odyssey that I have disliked, but most of them range between decent and very good. Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are outstanding, at least in my view. Kidnapped! is one of the very good ones. The animation is my only real quibble, it lacks the character fluency of Wind in the Willows, the vibrant colour of Peter Pan and the detailed backgrounds of Hunchback of Notre Dame, coming across as rather rushed-looking with somewhat flat colours and crude character designs. The music however is rousing, the dialogue is intelligent and amusing, the story skips along nicely and is compelling(even if there is that feeling that you wish it was longer) and the characters are at least interesting. The voice work is solid and not too cheesy like some of the more low-budget animations have been. All in all, very good if not outstanding. 8/10 Bethany Cox