Stick Man

Well, I didn't know this was a Christmas short. It somehow ended up in my laptop and now that I've seen it, I thought why not review it especially because it has Dr.Watson or Martin Freeman in it.

It's a fairly simple story with Martin Freeman's Stick Man, who lives with his family and one fine day decides to go for a jog and finds himself in an adventure he wasn't really expecting. That's it. No complications, no hidden meaning. Simple and fun.

The animation had a stop-motion kind of a feel to it. I mean, it looked like stop-motion but nowadays animation has reached such heights that it's difficult to tell the difference between actual stop-motion and artificial. Stick Man's youngest kid is the cutest Stick I've ever seen. The dialogue in the movie consists of rhymes that are said by various elements in the movie like the frog or the pigeon etc. It was basically Toy Story with twigs, oh sorry, Stick Man. Martin Freeman really plays these funny, frustrated characters really well and he conveys it only by the grunts when he slams into an oar and also how his tone changes every-time he says the poem.

Definitely give it a watch. It's only 27 minutes long which has 5 minutes of credits in it. It reminded me that shorts and even full- length films can be made just for the fun of it and this one made me feel like a kid again.

Stick Man is an endearing adaptation of Julia Donaldson's children's book featuring the voices of Martin Freeman, Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville. It remains faithful to the rhyming text.

Stick Man lives in the family tree with his family. Stick lady and stick kids or should they be twigs?

However while he is out for a jog he gets snatched by a dog and there begins a series of events leading him to be taken further away from home and seemingly no chance of finding his way back to the family tree as the seasons come and go. Luckily for Stick Man there is a festive tinged ending in sight for him.

Stick man takes a lot of knocks in this heart-warming CGI cartoon adaptation but he is a kindly soul but at a loss as to why people do not see him as a person but just as a stick.

As a slightly cynical parent it is easy to be dismissive of these types of Christmas day special cartoons but I found this to be charming.

I've not read this book but recently watched this with my toddler. Knowing it comes from the same place as Room on the Broom, and most recently, Zog, I was surprised that it had quite a downbeat tone. Essentially the plot sees Stick Man getting into bad situations, each one taking him further from home and into greater danger. I was surprised on watching that it wasn't lighthearted, it wasn't funny but that it played quite dark. Okay it has the rhyming dialogue that these type of things have, and the animation was rounded and likeable, but the material had that tone to it, and there weren't any laughs to break it up.

Reflecting back, it maybe played well for what it did, because it produced something based on danger and loss, but did it in this animated way that was easier to digest. I can imagine children being a bit saddened, before the magic of the end produces a happy ending, but they will not be overly frightened or threatened by it. My toddler understood the importance of Stick Man's family, and why his situation was bad, but she didn't get upset or bored by it - in this way I think the balance was good and the film's tone carried it off well. Not one of these films that I'll come back to loads, but an interesting change from the other BBC/Donaldson animations.

Delightful! An incredible voice cast. Endearing animation. A wonderful, adventurous tale to be revisited often by folks of all ages. I give this film an 8 (delightful) out of 10. {Animated Family Short}

I stumbled upon stickman by accident, forced the hubby to watch- he knew once I saw a clip that I HAD to see it. I fell in love with this movie big time

The characters and the simplicity, it was charming and intriguing. I think my Husband was pretty tolerant, he didn't fight it too much, so maybe he secretly enjoyed it- he sure saw that I enthusiastically did.

My only regret is that my mother isn't here to see it, she would have loved this character "Stickman" as much as me.

I need more. This could easily be a series !!

It brought me joy, and entertainment which is more than I can say for many things I watch.