David Copperfield

My family taped this animated version of Charles Dickens' family classic when it came on TV during the Christmas holidays; we still have it to this day. I love this wonderful animated film. I also love that anthropomorphic animals are used as the story's characters in the tradition of the Walt Disney film "Robin Hood." And I love that some of the main characters are cats. I love cats. You know, I kind of liked Agnes as a Duke's daughter. In a way, she's almost like a princess.

If I had to choose, which film adaptation of this classic story is the best: the 1935 live-action version with W. C. Fields, Edna May Oliver, Basil Rathbone, and Freddie Bartholomew? Or this one? I would choose both. So overall, I will always love this film, and I still have yet to read the actual novel, but that is OK.

I still remember this movie and I must have seen it when I was about 4 years old. I'm now 17! How's that for being memorable? I admit that I haven't read the book even now, though I have read Great Expectations so it can't be said I don't respect Charles Dickens. People shouldn't rate this movie so hard if one, you're not a child, and two if you are a hardcore fan of the book. Anyways.. I just thought I'd get that out of my system and if anybody knows where I can possibly buy the DVD please let me know! Also, I should let some of you fans out there know that the picture they have for this movie isn't from the movie as we can all remember it involved cats and monkeys, not people.

I was being baby-sat as a kid. I wanted to watch basketball, but the kids who were the son and daughters of the parents who were baby-sitting me wanted to watch this movie. Their house had cable and so I could watch botht he Pistons AND the Bulls that night. But nope.

The next.2 hours of my life were spent watching this interminable and vapid grind that had no redeeming qualities and was so inane it made me as a kid want to take up drinking and take the main characters out back of my parent's farm. I can still hear that female cat saying "But Davey...." The Pistons game was a 2-point game and the Bulls was a 4-point game. Anyone who tries to claim "kids are smart" is a fool and this movie proves it. Why see Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, plus Vin Baker, Lindsey Hunter and Allan Houston as rookies or the Pippen-Bulls? Lets watch some dumb cat girl constantly show concern for stupid David Copperfield instead.

To this day I refuse to read anything by Charles Dickens and I harbor serious fantasies about desecrating his grave. The only redeeming factor and why it gets a.2/10 is that I remember that I ranted so long, that finally my parents were convinced to just let me stay home alone and I think they realized that I was so into sports that I wouldn't try to burn down a barn or anything while they were gone and just watch the game.

I walked out of 'Windtalkers' 30 minutes into the movie at the theater after 1 Nick Cage cheeseturd delivery of a line too many, the only time I've ever done so. This was worse. It was worse than the pilot episode of 'The Nerd' starring Martin Short. It's worse than the worst episode of Scorch's PFG-TV. If you hate people, please show this move to them.

First off, for those getting after the film for not following the book's plot, keep in mind Disney does this all the time with their adaptations and still makes it work, so that's not what prevents me from loving this. Oh no. But before I get into my gripes, I'll talk about what I found good.

David himself is a fairly likable character. I like some of the sides, the cheese monster getting a little bit of development in the final third. I also respect this film for showing kids the hardships faced by sweatshop workers. Most of the songs are pretty catchy, even if the melodies are so stuck in the 90's that they kind of lose any chance at having a timeless feel, and it can be entertaining.

Now onto the stuff that needs work. As far as TV animation goes, it's nothing too special. It's not bad but there's nothing special about it. (Also, the editing could use some work) Micawber's also not a particularly enjoyable villain. They have the right idea with him being an irredeemable jerk, but he's so non-threatening that I couldn't really take him that seriously. The opening number also has no reason to exist. You think it's to establish a character, but then it's revealed that, oh, it didn't actually tell us anything about her, so it was literally there for the sake of being there. Though my biggest gripe is that the final conflict is kind of rushed. It's like the director suddenly realized the budget could only cover 5 more minutes, so he just threw everything he could at us, including the duke changing sides in less than a second just because he saw David's not-famous aunt storm Micawber's factory. I would take off points for the main romance being there for the sake of being there, but that was common at the time and is still a thing sometimes in this day and age, so I'll let that slide.

But all-in-all, I like this film fine. It's nothing too special, but it's decent. If you're a fan of animation and you're curious about some non-Disney works, check it out. You might not love it, but you'll probably get something out of it.

I didn't even know about this version until a few days ago, and when I did hear of it I was sceptical. Would an animated film with animals as the characters of Dickens's wonderful book work? So I watched it. For those who love the book and expecting a faithful adaptation, I suggest you look elsewhere like the TV version with Daniel Radcliffe, Ian McKellen, Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith. This version of David Copperfield is a condensed one, and those who would read the book and see this will probably say the only resemblance to the book are the characters, which to some extent is true.

That said, on its own merits David Copperfield(1993) is surprisingly entertaining if admittedly obscure. The pacing sags a bit in the middle and I didn't care for Betsy Trotwood's(who is merely more than a 10 minute screen time or so cameo) song. Flaws aside, the traditional animation is nice and colourful and the character designs are really quite good. The music was a surprise, with exception of one, the songs especially "Is There Anyone" are very nice and the background scoring is memorable too. The characters are fine-David is likable, Agnes is beautiful and innocent, Mr Micawber is humorous and wise and Murdstone is a villain through and through- while the script has its fair share of humour and poignancy. What elevates the film most though is the voice acting, Julian Lennon and Sheena Easton are earnest and effective enough but the real kudos goes to Michael York who is superb as Murdstone.

All in all, obscure and not so faithful but definitely worth watching if you are willing to see the film on its own merits. 8/10 Bethany Cox