Napoleone

Sometimes serendipity, dumb luck, and channel-surfing really pays off. That's how we found this terrific treat. Look -- in your cable listings or in your video store -- for this Australian-made movie feature. Total delight -- and you can watch it with your mom, your grandmom, your mom-in-law, even your kids in the same room -- or all by yourself if your macho attitudes requires. [Remember "Paulie"? That's right in this category.] But there's none of the "Old Yeller" boo-hoo stuff, so you-and-they'll be okay and sinus-dry when it's over. It's about a city-bred puppy who just knows he has to connect with his wild cousins, the dingoes. So off he goes -- in a balloon-powered basket (okay, we'll admit we worried about the pup up there in midair, especially when the basket was snared by a pointy-nosed commuter train -- but why give away the good stuff?). The photography is gorgeous, but the animal shots (birds, lizards, turtles, dingoes, etc.) are nothing short of incredible!! "Stunning!!" works, too. No people at all to get in the way, either. Try it. If you don't like it, then you'll just have to wait until the movie version of "Hannibal (the Lecter)" arrives.

I absolutely love this movie. Words are not enough to describe such a cute movie. Aside some minor stuff, the whole movie is delightful, adorable, wonderful, hilarious, sweet, exciting, thrilling, entertaining, full of charm and adventure, danger and even some darkness.

The list of qualities doesn't end here. What to say about the scenario? For one thing, this is an Australian film. This special production takes place in Sydney and in a nearby island. This is one of the reasons why this movie is well renowned. This is a rich production that captures all the beauty and wonders of pure nature. Even details like the sounds of exotic birds and waterfalls were not forgotten, which accents this realistic environment even more. Mountains, forests, green places, trees, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, rocks, various species of animals, deserts, sandstorms, sunsets, sunrises, winds, rain, snow and even the seasons of the year are all present here. Plus, the camera work is very efficient.

The story is about a very cute and adorable Golden Retriever puppy named Muffin' (although he nicknames himself Napoleon) that longs for adventure, danger and a life with wild dogs. Despite his young age and innocent appearance, Napoleon is very confident and not timid at all. In fact, he is a brave and curious explorer. But he proves to be a hero later, when he saves two adorable dingo puppies.

His curiosity makes him explore a balloon and accidentally causes the balloon to fly with him inside the basket (which is attached to the balloon). The balloon flies all over the city (Sydney) in very big heights. There are very beautiful and stunning angles of view in this sequence: very tall buildings, roads, a big bridge, the endless sea and even the famous Sydney Opera House (also known as Opera Australia). And these fantastic vistas are perfectly combined at the sound of the lovely Napoleon's song "How High I'll Fly?". Even a brief but delightful voyage by train wasn't forgotten just after that. The basket gets stuck on the train, which takes Napoleon to a great ride over the city.

Other gorgeous shots are when a fantastic sight of Sydney is shown at the beginning, from Napoleon's house and also when, after a long cross of the sea (in the air) Napoleon is getting close to very tall mountains with a beautiful beach down there but he doesn't know what to do until a galah named Birdo appears to help him all over his fantastic journey. Together they live big adventures and dangers while, at the same time, Birdo teaches him everything he knows about wild life.

The soundtrack includes beautiful and soft instrumental music, the sad goodbye song sung by Birdo and Napoleon and the tender and touching Napoleon's song "How High I'll Fly?".

As for the cast, they do a decent voice job, especially Jamie Croft as Napoleon, Philip Quast as Birdo and Susan Lyons as Napoleon's mother.

Despite all its qualities, this is a quite underrated film, a sad reality. However, it's one of the best animal movies, no question about that. And anyone who loves this precious little film just gotta love "Old Yeller", "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey", "Fluke" and "Air Bud". They all deserve to be considered timeless classics.

They don't make movies like this anymore and this is one of those unique gold classics about animals.

This should definitely be on Top 250.

A great tour through Australia, the scenery is magnificent. My three year old nephew has watched this about 100 times and still demands it on average once a week. It's a good movie for young children but not too childish for adults to get some enjoyment out of it as well. One the whole family can watch.

I can't add to the comments. It's a wonderful movie.

However, if you are one of the unfortunates that picked up the NTSC redubbed copy in the states, you are only getting half the movie.

The original Aussie accents, background noises and animal sounds are much nicer in the un-dubbed version.

Kids will love this movie too. If Walt Disney released this film, it would have been a big hit. The camera simply follows a curious puppy as it wanders through the woods encountering other animals. A large bird becomes his guide to this strange environment. There is no real danger, just adventure, with a humor based narrative added to the sound track.