I’ll have to grab this on DVD some time since the cut I saw today (on Disney’s own UK channel Cinemagic, for shame) was one of the ridiculously shortened cuts with over half an hour missing. If this includes the song “Candle on the Water” then it’s downright criminal – was this song sung in the movie, anyone? It certainly wasn’t in this cut anyway, brings new meaning to the word “butchered” if it’s supposed to be there, lol.

Anyway.

I’ve almost certainly seen this movie before, but probably before my longterm memory kicked in. That this movie’s story is so beautiful, and young Sean Marshall’s performance so brilliant, that it overcomes the deficiencies in the live-action/animation combo effects is really saying something. The songs are fantastic, instantly bring a smile and a tear to my face. And what a supporting cast with Shelley Winters and Mickey Rooney on the sidelines.

Make this one of the first movies your kids see before they become too jaded to forgive the visuals. Or just curl up with a cuddly toy and hot chocolate and be a kid yourself again for a couple of hours. Double bill it with The Iron Giant.

Addendum: Should’ve looked here first, but anyway, the movie’s page on Wikipedia contains info on the different cuts, and “Candle on the Water” was indeed cut for the shorter versions. I’ve really never gone with the idea of Disney as an Evil Empire … but this is seriously seriously wrong Make sure you get the right cut when you watch it … I’m gonna be getting the DVD ASAP and probably giving it 5 stars ‘cos even in this wrecked form it perked my mood immeasurably.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 21st, 2006 at 6:01 pm in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews and tagged as animation, Disney, dragon, imaginary friend, musical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.