"Shoebox Zoo" (2004) TV series 2004-????

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Creators:

Claire Mundell
Justin Molotnikov

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

1 September 2004 (Canada)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Believe.

Plot:

An American student living and studying in Edinburgh is given a mysterious box of toy animals for her birthday, toys that come alive during the night in their quest to find an ancient magical book.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Birthday | Quest | Ancient Book | Scotland

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Vivien Endicott Douglas	...	Marnie McBride (11 episodes, 2004)
Krystina Coates	...	Laura (8 episodes, 2004)
Frances Low	...	Ms. MacKay (6 episodes, 2004)
Maxi Moffatt	...	John Roberts (5 episodes, 2004)
Fergus Nimmo	...	Dougie (5 episodes, 2004)
Sean Young	...	Stewart (5 episodes, 2004)

Runtime:

25 min (26 episodes)

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (DVD rating) (season 1)

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

BBC Scotland

Trivia:

Michael Scot was a medieval mathematician and astrologer who lived around (1175 -1232). Efforts have been made by the author Sir Walter Scott to connect Scot with Sir Michael Scot of Balwearie, featured in Sir Walter Scott's The Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Son of the Mask (2005)

intriguing but flat series

Season 1 of 'Shoebox Zoo' (I assume there's more to come after the disappointing end episode) started with an interesting premise - Canadian kid Marnie (played by the inanimate Vivien Endicott Douglas, a young actress of limited range and irritating accent) inherits a zoo of toy animals who actually prove to be alive and representative of human souls trapped in time.

This all has something to do with her mother, who has now passed, and a mystic named Michael Scot (Peter Mullan, playing the role with too much sincerity). There's a devil representative - the reptile-like Toledo (Tony Donaldson, overacting badly), and there's a starry cast voicing the animals (Rik Mayall, Siobhan Redmond - superior voice talent as the snake, Simon Callow, and Alan Cumming).

Why it doesn't all come together is a mystery. The special effects are basic and the lead role is all wrong, but there's a much better show trying to get out of this one. It tries to be all encompassing, deadly serious, and indicative of Celtic myth, but all the talk of a mysterious book, 'The Chosen One', and the disparate accents (lots of Scots alongside the Canadian drawl) makes it more of a miss than a hit.

I really wanted this show to work. It does have appeal beyond its target audience on children's TV, but it doesn't quite hit the spot.