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Babar: The Movie (1989)
Director: Alan Bunce
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Initial delight that Laurent de Brunhoff's elegant, courtly and very European cartoons have been rescued from the elephants' graveyard soon turns to horror: this Americanises both characters and setting beyond recognition. The premise is a staple of successful kids' movies from Bambi to ET: separation from Mommy. Babar, boy king of the elephants, must help Celeste rescue mother from the evil rhinoceros Rataxas, picking up help on the way: Zephir the monkey and a vegetarian crocodile. Somehow the precocious pachyderm overcomes all odds, indulges in some Indiana Jones-style swashbuckling, and single-handedly defeats the rhino army before his decadent and bureaucratic generals can muster so much as one soldier. Hooray! The odd good wisecrack and a cracking pace help gloss over flat and unimaginative animation, and teeny tots will adore it.Author: DW
Cast & crew
Director: Alan Bunce
Producer: Patrick Loubert, Michael Hirsh, Clive Smith
Cast: Gordon Pinsent, Elizabeth Hanna, Sarah Polley, Gavin Magrath, Chris Wiggins, Stephen Ouimette full cast
Genre(s): Children's
Duration: 76 mins
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