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Reviews
The Magic Pudding (2000)
All the right ingredients, but they didn't follow the recipe
This movie had all the right ingredients for a great children's film. Good actors well cast, a story that is a classic of Australian children's writing, and animation that brought the illustrations of the book faithfully and charmingly to life. Unfortunately, the film makers did not follow Norman Lindsay's story but made up one of their own, using characters and incidents from the original.
The new story doesn't work as well as it might have done, at least to me. Instead of a comic trio of pudding owners zealously protecting their property against a pair of incompetent (but often successful) thieves, we have them embarking on a quest for some lost parents and a struggle against the forces of nature and of tyranny. The seriousness of the new plot quite smothers the light hearted charm of the original.
That said, the movie is quite watchable, and my three children (ages 10, 7 and 3) all enjoyed it. I can't help wishing, though, that they'd followed the recipe.
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962)
I never knew they had custard pies in ancient Greece
When the Three Stooges are accidentally sent to ancient Greece in a time machine they accidentally change history. Changing it back includes encounters with Cyclops, Hercules (the real one and a ring in) and, of course, custard pies.
The Real Macaw (1998)
Entertaining Children's movie
The Real Macaw is an entertaining movie for children, featuring Mac, the 149 year old talking Macaw, who knows where the pirate treasure is buried. Mac is the real star of the piece, though there is plenty to do for the human actors, plenty of action, and a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.
The Sentimental Bloke (1919)
An endearing adaptation of C.J. Dennis' poems
This movie is one of the classics of the early Australian film industry. An adaptation of "Songs of a Sentimental Bloke" by poet C.J. Dennis, the film tells the story of the romance between "The Bloke" and his lady love, Doreen.