User reviews

As a parent of small kids I get used to watching films multiple times on DVD. Thankfully this one stands up to repeat viewings. I did wonder how a 5 minute book could be stretched to nearly half an hour, but the makers have added plenty of little details that, while not adding to the overall story, do expertly complement it.

The CGI woodland scenery looks fantastic - I'm not normally won over by 'graphics' but it really adds charm - and is supported by a brilliant musical score. As the dialogue (with the exception of some of the squirrel lines) follows the book, there isn't a huge amount. But what is there is done with personality and is memorable.

For those that don't know the story, its a simple but clever tale filled with imagination and bound to appeal to young kids and adults with a playful imagination.

Recommended.

I enjoyed this short film quite a bit, though of all the films nominated for Best Animated Short this year, I think it and "Let's Pollute" have the least chance of winning the Oscar. We'll see--the winner is to be announced next week.

The film is odd because it's is a story within a story. It begins with a mother squirrel (Helena Bonham Carter...who, incidentally, doesn't seem that squirrelly to me) almost being caught by a bird of prey. She scrambles into her nest and tells her children a story about a mouse and when he was captured by predators--and how the clever mouse escapes.

The film is extremely cute and enjoyable. However, the character animation seemed only fair--and compared to many other CGI films of the last few years it does not compare well. This does not detract horribly from enjoying the film and the film's backgrounds are quite nice. All in all, I have no other negatives about it other than the character design and I am sure young kids will love it.

UPDATE: I was surprised, but just moments ago I saw that "The Lost Thing" won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. To me, this was a surprise!

Before a mouse goes for wander in the forest to find a nut, he fails to consider that he is just about bite-size for most of it's other dwellers. There's a snake, an owl - who does seem to find it quite difficult to fly in a straight line, and a ferocious fox. Perhaps he has read "1001 Nights" though, because when faced with becoming sandwich fodder, he conjures up an image for each of them of this great and menacing monster. This does the trick until, well guess who he meets amongst the trees? This is a simple story that lends itself well to some endearing and characterful stop-motion animation. It's all in their eyes! The narrative offers us the perspective of an innocent child as we explore and the mouse improvises, often humorously, to escape his tricky predicaments. It's an half an hour that is easy to watch and I did quite enjoy it.

My son (who is 8) and I really enjoyed this. The animation is fantastic, the voices are great! We've been huge Gruffalo fans for years and I was worried that they would add to it, or take something from the charm but they did this brilliantly.The animal characters are well thought out, each given its own personality in the very small time they are on. It was funny and lovely to watch. The animals are beautifully done, the scenery is gorgeous. You could almost climb into the TV, really felt alive. I would recommend this to any parent and really any adult too. Tiny tiny drawback is the pace it quite slow, but its such a small drawback I still think is earns a well deserved 10/10! Can't rave about this enough, Well done BBC!

This came on BBC1 on Christmas Day, and like Wallace and Gromit before it, I recorded it so it could be watched later. I've finally got around to watching it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

With a solid voice cast voicing the animals, the rhyming dialogue is sweet and never annoying.

The story of the mouse, as told by a mother squirrel to her two babies is episodic but suitably so. The jokes were funny and it was even somewhat dark in places where it needed to be.

The animation is probably not as polished as Lost and Found(2008) but has it's own caricatured, simplistic charm and is aesthetically faithful to the book(haven't read it, but have seen the cover).

Overall, an entertaining and amusing short about deception and survival done in a colourful and light way. I enjoyed it along with The First Snow of Winter, also based on a picture book, that has a similar tone, also featuring a 'big, bad' wolf. Good for young kids and the young at heart.

I absolutely loved The Gruffalo. It is a little too short, but all the same it is still superb. The animation is beautiful, very true to the illustrations of the book, plus the characters are well modelled and move convincingly and the backgrounds and colours are ravishing. The story is cute and charming, simple it is, but simple as in a good way. The dialogue is always amusing, it is done in rhyme and bounces along with no problem at all. The pace is brisk and the characters like the story are simple but still engaging. The voice cast are all solid across the board as well. So overall, just superb, if it had been a tad longer it would have been perfection. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The Gruffalo is a short for children, that has a very "preety" plot and story, it has some parts of funny jokes. It's simply about a little mouse who is treating to survive in the jungle, i really like its character and its "personality" (he is very very funny). For the ones who want celebrities the voices of some characters are: Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinnson. Helena is my favorite actress but it don't really care in this short because her appearance is almost unnoticed. I won't tell you anymore so you can see it. I recommend it for children and i give it a 6. Greetings, I hope you like it. By maxi0305

It's even better than the book. This is everything that 'Where the Wild Things Are' should have been, but wasn't.

The animation style is interesting, and I just love the dialogue and voice acting. We have a four year old, and he just loves this film. At about a half-hour, it's not too long for kids that can't sit through an hour or longer movie without getting disinterested.

The music is beautiful as well. Very memorable and peaceful.

If you have a little one, I recommend this film - it's one of those 'kid' films that is just as fun for the parents to watch, thanks to all the little nuances put into it (like how every living thing except the mouse gets put through the food chain).

'THE GRUFFALO': Three Stars (Out of Five)

The longest of the Oscar animated short films this year, this one is a thirty minute adaptation of a children's book (of the same name) written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The film was adapted by Donaldson, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang. It was directed by Schuh and Lang as well. It features the voice talents of Helena Bonham Carter, James Corden, Tom Wilkinson, John Hurt, Robbie Coltrane and others. It tells the story of a mouse (Corden) who outwits a fox (Wilkinson), an owl (Hurt) and a snake (Roby Brydon), who are ready to eat him, by making up a more frightening creature called a 'gruffalo' to scare them with. He then is forced to outwit the very creature he thought he invented (Coltrane) upon running into it. The story is told by a mother squirrel (Carter) to her children. It originally aired on UK television in December of 2009 (which makes me wonder how it was still eligible for an Oscar nomination but I guess the same rules don't apply for short films as features). The film itself is charming and pleasant but certainly nothing groundbreaking or memorable. The animation is pretty basic and the story is routine kid's fare. It is a pleasant half hour cartoon that should please most children though, just not anything I'd expect to be up for an Oscar nomination.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqNUf10kuk

I knew I hated the voice the second I heard it - the mouse is played by Corden. Awful.

Having narrowly avoided a predator herself, a mother squirrel calms the nerves of her two young children by telling them a story of a plucky young mouse who travels deep into the woods in search of food only to find predators at every turn ready to trick him into becoming their next meal.

While the satellite channels have pretty much taken away the "big movie premiere" as an event on BBC at Christmas time, the BBC still have their usual weapons by their sides to ensure that people looking for easy festive distraction know they can come to them. As a result we do get several episodes of Eastenders but it does also mean special films of existing shows (such as Dr Who etc) which sometimes can be quite good, but also animated programmes. The usual big winner that everyone thinks of is of course Wallace & Gromit, but this year there was none of them but there was this charming little film sitting comfortably just before the end of David Tenant on Doctor Who.

Based on the very successful children's book (which I've not read), the rhyming dialogue of the mouse's speech appears to have made it as has the look and feel of the film since the animation is very close to what I have seen of the book. In terms of substance it is very simple but effective – you know where it is going but it has an easy delight to it that one cannot help enjoying. I'm not sure if it is from the book or not but I felt that the narrative device of having us be told the mouse's story via another story teller (and being able to see her audience while also be the audience ourselves) really did work to make it a bit more engaging. The cast is fairly packed with famous voices as well (and not just for UK viewers, which is normally how it works). Although I personally am yet to see what everyone likes about him, Corden does a good job as the mouse – despite the feeling that the BBC were putting him in everything (this was his first of three appearances at Christmas). He is quite restrained in his delivery, which suits the mouse and the clever little rhyming style of his speech. Carter's narrator is balanced and responsible, with Brydon, Hurt and Wilkinson doing good work in small bits as the predators. Coltrane is the only one that really makes an impression though, since his voice is quite distinctive and he plays up the gruff aspect of it. In terms of the stars, they are all good without being so good that it explains their involvement, but I suppose it helps the film and also represented an easy time commitment from them.

What really made it for me though was the animation. The film looks great but it does it in a way that never feels showy or like it is being done for the sake of it. In terms of bringing it to the screen it somehow manages to be impressive and detailed but yet also keep the rounded colourful nature that one would expect with a children's animated book. To me, the animation did more than the star names in terms of creating the characters and while the casting is a coup that catches the eye, the animators deserve a lot of credit as well.

Overall, a charming little delight – nothing to blow you away or having you rolling like Wallace & Gromit perhaps, but a simple enjoyable story told in a very effective and enjoyable way.

Simply brilliant, it's a perfect telling from one of the best children's books ever. Great casting and performances from an amazing cast considering this is a children's story

The only problem I have with these beautifully drawn, British animated shorts, like The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom is that they seem to me a bit too long for shorts. This wonderful tale was slightly better than Room on the Broom, thou. Searching for The Gruffalo's Child right away!

Great book adaption with a great story line and just a little bit scary for the kiddos. Lovely voice selection

One more good cartoon. Simple, good for kids, magical, enjoyable, relaxing, not time waster. High presence of nature. Good sounds. Easy to understand. Inspirational. Inspires us to love nature more and maybe even do something about it. Similar to video games and encyclopedias.

The only gripe I have about this film is that this animation is too short, as I had so much time watching it! The animation is superb, and every minute detail is taken into consideration. Certainly it involves a team of dedicated people, who do not do things just for the sake of doing it.

It is nominated for BAFTA awards, and it is very surprising that the film didn't get any awards for its astounding job.

I like the way the narrator makes the story to rhyme. And even though it is repetitive, it does not bother me.

A good full marks for this great short animation!

Whole family loves this movie and 'The Gruffalo's Child'.

We love watching this as a family. How could anyone not like it. Voiced superbly, beautiful animation, scored brilliantly and a classic story. Ever available on the iPlayer.