From the moment it begun, Freddy was riveted as it contained many of the things he loves in movies: catchy songs, toe-tapping dancing, fun characters and slapstick visual humour. It brings together the stars of lots of our favourite fairytales as they come together for Princess Rose aka Sleeping Beauty's 18th birthday. The kids loved picking out characters such as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf from the party guests.
Bobo, the youngest and clumsiest dwarf accidentally causes Sleeping Beauty to prick her finger, unleashing the curse and sending the kingdom into an icy slumber. The dwarves must then embark on the adventure of a lifetime and find her one true love Jack, of the beanstalk fame, so he can break the wicked Snow Queen Dellamorta's spell. Unfortunately, he is being held captive by the Snow Queen's terrifying dragon.
Although we all hold Disney as the beacon of animated films, I think there is plenty of room in the marketplace for studios that do things a little differently. I really liked the slightly quirky animated characterisation of the cast, and enjoyed the way the dwarves were not Disney replicas but were brand new characters in their own right. We loved the visual humour and non-stop gags, and the portrayal of the princesses as typical teen girls was refreshing. Snow White is really quite foxy, which was an interesting twist! The original songs added an element of fun to the film and were quite catchy. Some of the jokes were definitely thrown in with a knowing wink to the grown-ups, which allows adults to enjoy a private titter as the little ones giggle at the more obvious comedic moments.
There were scenes that delivered some mild peril that got Freddy really engrossed in the dwarves' adventures. He also loved Burner the tap dancing dragon and thought Bobo was really funny! Dellamorta, who was often seen coming creepily out of her mirror and who spoke with a rather sinister voice, made a very passable villain.
The film delivered its fairytale ending with a good dose of romance.
It's not often that Freddy sits and watches a whole film without being distracted by something else, but this movie absolutely engaged him for the entire duration.
Fairytale-Story of the Seven Dwarves is out on March 16th on DVD. It is 84 minutes long and is rated a PG.
