The Magic Roundabout Film Review

Usually when a TV series gets turned into a feature length film it's at the height of the shows popularity with the film serving as a way to prove that it's popular enough to get a feature length film. The same thing cannot be said for this film as the show that it's based off Le Manège Enchanté officially ended production in 1990 but is known to us here in the UK as The Magic Roundabout as the footage from that show was used to create a new show all together with the original show spawning it's own film called "Dougal And The Blue Cat" and then join me as I review the film that is better known stateside as Doogal with the film in question being called simply just "The Magic Roundabout" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when an accident causes a magic roundabout to break down and an evil wizard to be freed it's up to friends Dougal , Dylan , Brian and Ermintrude to find three magic diamonds and bring them back to the roundabout before the wizard Zeebad can freeze the world forever. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty average at best. This films plot to be frank here isn't the best plot out there but at the same time it's also not the worst one as it is just the typical kids fantasy film plot and that's really it but for something that is quite clearly aimed at very little kids that's all it really needed to be as it didn't need to be something like Lord Of The Rings it just needed to be fun enough for them to like it and that's it. This doesn't make the films plot any good as any adult will find issues with the plot the very second that they start to question it for one second but for the plot of a kids film it's not that bad with there being some level of thought put into it to help make it feel a bit more thought out then what it was with the films plot not really being anything that is more in line with the original show as just by going off of the UK version of the show the stories did seem to be more slice of life and that is something that could have worked for this film but in all fairness for a film you do want something more grander and a little bit more cinematic with the plot of this film not really being really rather entertaining and as well as not really being really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.  

Starring in this film is Robbie Williams as Dougal , Kylie Minogue as Florence and Jim Broadbent as Brian. Also starring in this film is Lee Evans as Train ,  Dame Joanna Lumley as Ermintrude , Bill Nighy as Dylan , Ray Winstone as Solider Sam , Ediz Mahmut as Basil , Daniella Loftus as Coral , Jimmy Hibbert as Mr Rusty , Mr Grimsdale and The Skeleton Guards , Tom Baker as Zeebad and Sir Ian McKellen as Zebedee.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty average at best. The fact that this films acting is nothing more then OK at best is something that is to be expected as this film is mostly filled with celebrity voices that granted isn't as bad as the American dub of the film but this film still does have an untrained actor in Robbie Williams in the main role which granted is great for getting in the parents but it is also something that does cause the films acting quality to dip quite alot. With the best actor in the film being Tom Baker as Zeebad as ta this point in time he was doing over voice over work and it is something that does show as he does know how to express emotion through using just his voice whereas alot of the films other actors don't know how to do that which does leave there performances still good but not as good as they could have been with Tom making Zeebad almost this pantomime like villain with his performance being as over the top ad as goofy as you'd want it to be which is something that really does work for this film as it makes it clear that he does know what kind of a kids film that he is in and just wiling to have to fun with it and it's something that makes you wonder why he was replaced by Jon Stewart in the American dub of the film as Tom Baker really does know how to make this character truly evil just from his voice alone which is something that really does shine through in his performance in this film. With the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely anything to work with in terms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to he in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Action Synthese. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty average at best. The animation much like both the acting and the plot of this film is nothing more then OK and while that's all t needed to be given the fact that this film isn't that well known and is basically an independent film with a small budget when it comes too animation in feature length films you do expect the animation to look a little bit more better then what we get in this film. As the films animation does look cheap alot of the time with the characters spending alot of the time in white areas where there are no other characters and where the background doesn't need to be that highly detailed and while that is fine for an episode of te show as there they have to spread a budget across countless episodes therefor of course some of them will come off looking cheaper then others for a feature film you do want the animation to look as good as it could have done all throughout the film as we get scenes were the animation looks really good good but then it's very quickly followed up with scenes where the animation looks terrible, To be fair this film as was mentioned is basically and independent film and therefor they couldn't afford to give the film alot of budget to go towards it's animation but there still should have been some effort t give this film the kind of animation that you would expect to have in a feature length films whilst still being very much within it's budget as no one is going to care who is in this film but what they will care about is the films animation and when the animation looks as cheap as it does in this film then the film is going to leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

This film is of course based off of both the 1964 show Le Manège Enchanté and it's 1965 UK version The Magic Roundabout. Sadly like a alot of shows from this time period there are alot of episodes missing from the UK show as the BBC would more often then not wipe the tapes they are on after they were broadcast as there was no home media market back in the sixties therefore the had no reason to keep the episodes this is also why there is still alot of classic Doctor Who still missing but unlike Doctor Who where they did sell the tapes to other countries with this show there is a good chance that the original footage is still somewhere in France as it was only the footage that got used not the original scripts. This is something that dies make The Magic Roundabout a unique thing as while shows like Power Rangers did take it's action footage from another show thy also filmed new footage where as with this show it was all the original footage with the only thing being changed being the scripts and that's it this is a unique way to adapt a show and is most certainly something that you couldn't do today as these days every show is made with every country in mind but it is still a unique way of adapting the show as given the fact that the show has nothing in it that makes it French all that really gets done is to change the voices to whatever country you want and you get a new show out of it, this show is also one that is an easy thing to adapt for this film as the stories were slice of life in the UK dub of the show therefor all you have to do is make the stakes big enough to where you don't lose what made the original show so special in the first place but also where it does become worthy of being on the screen and this is where this film does fail as they made the story to big and to epic for these characters and because of that the charm and simplicity that the original show had is now lost in this film.

There really nothing to this film is it is just a generic kids fantasy comedy film where you know full well that all of the characters are never really in any form of danger. Whilst this is something that very well could be seen as being a bad thing and in a better film it very well might have been but given that this film does know full well that it's a generic kids film and isn't all that offensive the film does somewhat get away with this and heck it could even be argued that the original show but it French or UK was like that as well but at the same time to this is a film and you do expect there to be more chances taken wit a film even in a kids fantasy film as while you can't have the characters die to you can out them in situations where it is believable that they would die. This is something that this film really doesn't do as the makers of this film do play this a bit to safe for it's own good like for example with the character of Dylan who anybody who saw the UK version of te show could tell very easily that he was as a high as a kite whenever he was on screen and yet here in this film they don't have him acting like that at all granted they do have Brian make a possible joke about it but that's really it and yet whilst the film isn't effected by this at all the makers of the film should have made more of an attempt to appeal to the adult audience as given the fact that this show even back in 2005 was still very nostalgic to the adults that grew up watching it and yet there's noting in it for them and while this is understandable with the Paw Patrol movies as that show is still fairly recent in the grand scheme of things this show is over sixty years old it's going to have adults that grew up watching it wanting to see this film to see those characters again and yet the film is played to safe when the show was anything but safe.

For some odd reason the makers of this film gave this film a villain in Zeebad which is something that both does and doesn't work for the film. It works against the film in that this is a property that really didn't need to have a main villain as the stories where very slice of life and those kinds of stories don't require there to be this bad guy that could very easily defeat the main characters if he really wanted to and yet it works for the film because of the the fact that the villain is alot more entertaining to watch then the main heroes of the film as Zeebad is always there cracking jokes and being goofy and being this over the top cartoonish villain whereas the main heroes are playing everything straight to the point where he is alot more fun to watch then they are. With even his plan being this really over the top the plan as he wants all three of these magic diamonds to turn the world to ice forever think Mr' Freeze's plan in Batman & Robin but with less ice puns and you'll get the idea and while he never really puts the main heroes in any real danger as this is after all a kids fantasy film the fact that he does take out the one person who could save them in Zebedee i something that does make him out to be a threat to these characters as now we the audience now full well that this character does mean business as he got rid of there hero quite easily with the only thing that truly lets him down is his plan and while it is a decent enough plan for this film it's also one that doesn't really give the character a chance to show us why he's evil as we never get to find out why he wants to freeze the world in the first place and therefor we can't get into why we should hate him outside of the fact that he's evil and that's it and yet if he was given a plan where he could do that then it is something that would make the film to be alot more better in the long run.

Now then this film has / had an exact gran total running time of exactly one hour and twenty one minuets and forty seven seconds. This is pretty much the exact running time that you'd expect a film like this one to have and to fair to this film it is a film that does earn that running time as there really aren't any scenes in the film that could be classed as being filler as every scene is all about advancing the films plot forward which is something that it should have been but at the same time the film does have some subplots that aren't needed like Brian trying to confess his love to Ermintrude which while it's a filler plot it's also something that really wasn't needed in this film with this film having more then plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place. With the film not rally using the time to fully develop its plot as outside of one scene near the start of the film where the characters are given there quest there's nothing added to the films plot that does make it feel more developed as the plot does feel more like a well thought out after out in the film when compared to other things with the makers of the film putting more thought and effort into making sure that we know that Dougal has a sweet tooth then they did in to giving us a well thought out and well developed plot. This is something that does also effect the films character development as well as none of the films character are given any sort of character development even Dougal the films main character isn't given character development despite the fact that its due to him trying to get some sweets that causes the events of the film to happen in the first place with the makers of this film being more focused on trying to make us buy into the relationship between Brian and Ermintrude rather then giving its character character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty average at best. With us having some cute funny moments in the film like with Ermintrude thinking sh can sing when in fact she really can't and yet because of the fact that she has a big ego she does believe that she really can sing but at the same time alot of the films jokes are just so bad and while this is understandable as this is a kids film after all but even little kids would struggle to find this film funny and there this films target audience. With the best jokes in the film being alot of the things that Train says as they are the the of jokes that you very easily could imagine Lee Evens saying at one of his stand up shows with those jokes playing to his strengths as a comedian and with being a stand up comedian he really does know how to make jokes funny as that was his job and its something that does get put to somewhat good use in this film as the character doesn't speak all that much and yet hen he does while it's not always comedy gold it is nine times out of ten something that will make you chuckle which is something that des make it alot more better then alot of the jokes in this film as alot of the films other jokes just aren't that funny and yet alot of the stuff with Train whilst it isn't always comedy gold is still really funny with the rest of the films jokes being just as passable as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall whilst it is hard to say if this cut of the film is better then the American one what really can be said is that this film isn't a good representation of what the either original show was as this film feels like a bad version of the original shows as it doesn't have anything that  really made those two original shows good in the first place in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now the i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score old exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Wikipedia and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.