The Gruffalo DVD Review

I was asked to review the upcoming DVD The Gruffalo, so I thought I'd give it a shot. (Yes, I know it's been a year since my last review...)

The DVD is based on the "bestselling children's picture book" (from the back cover) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and I was a bit surprised as I had never heard of it (my boys are 9 and 7, so they'd be at the right age for when the book came out-- 2006).  That doesn't really mean much because anyone who has young children knows: they could never read all the childrens' books that are out there.

And that's a shame because if the book is as charming as I found the DVD to be, then it's something any child should have on his bookshelf.

I have been asked to review children's DVDs/shows before, and I've either run out of time to actually write about them-- or I had a hard time doing so because I just wasn't the target audience.  But this one was actually a lot of fun and done well, so I felt a little more inspired.

Anyway, the story begins with two young squirrels asking their mother to tell them a story. She tells one about a mouse who comes across three predators while traveling in the woods.  He's able to turn each one back by telling them he's waiting for a scary creature that he made-up on the spot called a Gruffalo.  Each predator (snake, fox, and owl) is told three features of the Gruffalo that scared them enough to leave Mouse alone.

Mouse is feeling pretty good about the experience until he runs into an actual Gruffalo; just as he described it to the others.  Now he has to think of how to get out of the Gruffalo's clutches.  Some would (and have-- I read a few reviews) say that it was a little obvious how Mouse escapes, but I found his solution both clever and in character.

So I liked the story. How's the animation?  Very impressive.  I have no idea about budgets or anything, but this was probably a low-budget project that looked great.  I put the DVD into my Blu-Ray player, and it was very crisp, very detailed (upconverted from SD, but not HD, which was a surprise as it looked as good as most Blu-Rays I've watched).  I had a tough time deciding if I was looking at CGI or stop-motion while I watched. [I found out later it was a mix of CGI characters with models for the environment.  VERY effective.]

I also the little touches the film put in as "asides". My favorite is when Mouse walked past a line of ants who were marching to the doom; right into the mouth of a waiting woodpecker.  Mouse casually moved turned one ant 90 degrees, and the ants behind that one followed him instead of climbing the tree to be eaten.  It was never spoken; just a small joke that was added.  Nice touch.

And the voice acting was an embarrassment of riches.  Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, John Hurt, and Tom Wilkinson...  For real! We've got some heavy-hitters here.  And there was not a lot of lines to be spoken (if one review I read was correct, the only spoken lines were those printed in the book), so to get that kind of talent, even for such small parts, was pretty impressive.

Finally, there was a nice behind the scenes feature that started with the book, and then moved to this animated retelling, which covered everything from just adapting it, to voice work (with live-actors and animated characters being shown closely enough that kids can see the real face of the voice).  We also saw a little of the model work that made the backgrounds, and how they created the characters. Finally, they even gave us a glimpse of the musicians who made the great soundtrack to the DVD.  The feature was about 15 minutes long, so short enough to keep the attention of both adults and kids-- yet long enough to really delve into how this was made.  I found it a wonderful addition.

Now for the downside: the feature is about a half-hour long.  Combining that with the behind the scenes feature and a look at some of the art of the adaptation, we're left with just under an hour of material (unless you count the endless advertisements/trailers that were on the DVD).  That's not a lot of content, so I would have had a tough time paying for it (the suggested retail price is $10).

But I'm also happy they didn't try to pad the story to make it 80 or 90 minutes-- there's enough of those films out there. This was concise and wonderfully done.  And while my kids have moved on to feature-length movies, I guess I do remember how short most "kids DVDs" (like Sesame Street or The Wiggles DVDs) are.  $10 for this is not a bad deal.  It's out of my price range for a DVD-- but then I'm horribly cheap and know how to wait and work the system to get deals for less than that.

Listen-- this is a kids movie. If you have kids between the ages of 2 and 6, this is right up their alley. It avoids the usual craptastic merchandising you'll see on much of that target age's media as it is just a solid little film that looks absolutely gorgeous on an HDTV, with lots of little touches that should take a few viewings to notice them all.  Older kids may not go for it as much (it is based on-- and patterned after-- a children's book), but it certainly won't insult them if they sit down to watch with a younger sibling or cousin.  As an adult who has seen more than my share of movies and TV-- and have also recently gone through being a father for that target age group-- I can say this is a winner.  No annoying characters or voices that will drive you insane after hearing six times in a row. The story is cute, and the visuals are wonderful. I really did find myself just getting caught up in how it looked.

My only downside is, again, the amount of content for the price, but, really, it's not that out of line for the competition that's on the shelves.  I will highly recommend it for parents of small children-- or as gifts for small children.

And I will be putting the Gruffalo in my private collection.  I could put it with the DVDs I am considering my kids' (ones that they can watch whenever, without asking me)-- or give it to my elementary school teacher wife to take to -- but I like this enough that I want to have it part of my collection.  I'll loan it to my kids or my wife-- but I will consider this part of my collection (one that is nearing 800 DVDs/Blu-Rays).

I suppose that's the best endorsement I can give...