The Magic Roundabout

This production hits the buttons at all levels. For the younger kids who will enjoy it as they would any new animation; the tweenagers who will enjoy the story and the action; and the teens & twenty somethings for all the many references to movies over the last 10 - 15 years. And for the rest of us, the vague sense of nostalgia - don't rush out before the end of the credits, just for that famous phrase you are waiting to hear! Robbie is excellent as Dougal, with Baker, McKellen and Broadbent not far behind. The other "famous" artists were out of my realisation until I read the credits and thought - "so it was". It's not what you watched just before the BBC news, but still worth the ticket, with or without a pre-schooler in tow.

On entering the cinema, I did have my doubts. I'd watched the original Magic Roundabout from a very young age, and one false step could have ruined both versions for good.

However, the filmmakers managed to make a perfect balance of "old" and "new" to bring out a whole new film, featuring characters that reminded me of the originals, but didn't try to take their places.

The storyline was fun, bearing in mind that it was aimed at young children, and included the token jokes (aimed at both children and adults), teary moments and interesting yet predictable twists. The graphics were excellent, and most of the older viewers were "Ahhh"ing throughout at the sight of the big, sweet eyes. Looking around, I could tell that the young 'uns were enjoying it too, and that's what really matters in a film like this.

Overall, a brilliant transition from a simple, sweet television show to an enormous, exciting movie.

This is very much aimed at younger children - I think those up to about 7 would enjoy it, but my 10-year-old was really too old. Quite a few adults went along on their own to the showing I attended, probably hoping for nostalgia - however this was in short supply, as the CGI versions of the characters look nothing like the much-loved TV show.

The film also doesn't have the wit and charm of the original. Although Sir Ian McKellen is wonderful as Zebedee and Tom Baker as his evil twin, to me it all seemed very thin. Also, with Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue among the voice cast (Dougal and Florence respectively), it's rather a shame that the only person who does much singing is Joanna Lumley, warbling horribly as Ermintrude!

Years ago there was another Magic Roundabout film, Dougal versus the Blue Cat, which, as I remember, was much funnier than this offering.

This film is about a group of friends trying to stop an evil Zeebad from turning the world into ice.

This film is for the very young kids to enjoy. The animation is quite pleasant. The soft colours, simple & clean animation, and colourful scenes make it quite visually appealing to watch. Dialogs are easy to understand, and there are quite a few lines that got me laughing. My favourite line is "This guy is seriously messing with my karma", which is something I totally did not expect in a kids' film! The music is quite good, the ending theme song is a Kylie Minogue song that I have never heard of! Putting the intended young audience into context, I think this film deserves more than the current rating on IMDb.

OK, I loved it, and yet I was (slightly) disappointed too. Tom Baker voicing the part of the villainous Zeebad was absolute genius. His crazed, maniacal lines were wonderful. And Dylan was brilliant too - Bill Nighy was just the right choice. But I missed Dougal's cynical, world-weary quips from the original Magic Roundabout. And Ermintrude was disappointing too.

The animation is certainly very good, although again I missed the original 'cardboard cutout' feel of the garden backdrops. (It was very good, but just not like the original!) I'm glad they kept the train the same! The 70's soundtrack was very welcome. It's not entirely obvious what music would work well, but I think they got that right.

Generally, the original show's short format is not an easy task to expand upon, and I think they did pretty well really.