The tale begins at the local zoo where the local bullies humiliate Billy and steal his rucksack while he was trying to impress his love interest Doreen by the zoo's hot dog stand. When Billy's dad finds the bag, due to the carelessness of a rather inept zoo keeper, there is an uninvited guest stowed away inside, which he inadvertently brings home. This is the start of an adventure that sees Billy trying to keep the baby tiger hidden from his clueless parents and come up with a plan to return the cub to its pining mother.
The film uses a lot of classic, kids' film plot devices to progress the story and the moral of being rewarded for doing the right thing is cliched if not heartwarming. It has the feel of a Sunday afternoon Nick Jr movie with cute critters and kids getting into scrapes until the final mandatory happy ending. The interaction between the family's pet Labrador and the tiger cub brings scenes that children will love and the comedic situations that come from trying to conceal a playful wild animal in the house will get the children chuckling.
Our favourite characters were Billy's goofball friend Koby, who is always doing something daft, and Billy's dad (played by the guy who played mind reading policeman Matt Partman in Heroes). The parenting skills of Billy's parents leave a lot to be desired as they constantly dismiss and misunderstand their son's dilemmas- but it does raise a few laughs.
There is a good element of storytelling, some lovely animals and some gentle humour along with a nice soundtrack, which makes this a sweet film to keep the little ones entertained this summer. It has a nice moral message about honesty and doing the right thing and we get to see the underdogs triumph.
The Tiger's Tail is available now - find it on Amazon for £8.50.
The film is 81 Minutes long and a U certificate.
