Le bateau volant

A silly, greedy Tsar is taught a valuable lesson in humility by the six very peculiar friends who arrive at the Kremlin with THE FOOL OF THE WORLD AND THE FLYING SHIP.

This old Russian folk tale, - produced by Cosgrove Hall, masters of the art of stop-motion animation - is most enjoyable viewing. The intricacy of the tiny costumes & sets are fascinating, while the amount of personality infused into each character model is quite remarkable. The boisterous humor of the scene depicting the banquet of the Forester's Wife is a special highlight.

The production is helped tremendously by the splendid voice cast. David Suchet narrates, Jimmy Hibbert voices the hero Pyotr, while several old pros - Maurice Denham, Robin Bailey & Miriam Margolyes among them - lend their considerable talents.

I reviewed this film many years ago when it came out on videocassette for School Library Journal. As the other reviewer stated, the animation was extraordinary for 1990; the entire production was beautiful including the sets, the puppets' clothing, the voice-over acting; the narration by David Suchet, etc. Based on a Russian folktale, the production stays true to Russian culture of a by-gone era. Young peasant boy Pyotr receives aid from magical beings and people in order to fly a magic ship to the Czar's palace. There he hopes to win the hand of the princess by accomplishing three impossible tasks. I still own the videocassette as this is still one of the best animated films I have ever seen.

I have two versions of this comment; the short, and the long.

The short version is this: This film is simply fantastic. Absolutely perfect. A must see.

And the long version: This film is simply a classic. I have never seen such an amazing piece of animation, or storyline (even if Cosgrove Hall didn't write it...). The characters are simply delightful, each puppet is crafted in a 'beautiful' way - these puppets are artwork in themselves. If you ever get your hands on this film, pay attention to the animation. It is phenomenal, especially for a 1990s film. And the detail, like the expressions in the faces and the background characters, and little things like that that make this film magical. In some cases, it even puts a little humour into it (such as the banquet scene).

As an animator, myself, I think this film is absolutely amazing. A great film for kids, and adults, to enjoy. If you ever get the chance to see it, make sure you take it, as I'm sure you will enjoy it.

If you have enjoyed "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" and those type of animated films, you will enjoy this slightly more cultured approach and your older children too. Though I don't know of such russian fairy tale as it explains it does, this must be a european or scandinavian version of such, if any.

I have watched this version many, many times. When I purchased this video 4 years ago, I had my 4 year old watch it with me. If my son, who was that young then, understood the story, the plot, and enjoyed the character as much as I did, then I must say the movie did its job. It has the classic good vs. evil plots, yet the message here was how to make someone with so much power learn how to be humble, which did reach that goal.

I am safely say that the story was marvelous, the characters were incredibly cute, and the audience will not be disappointed with the story.

*** 8 out of 10 ***