Zog (2018) Reviews

• Excellent Adaptation

  rubberchicken22019-01-12

  We've been reading the book for a while and definitely felt like this was a good adaptation of the story. It's always difficut when a short story is made into a longer animation and you often get the feeling that a lot of it is simply filler. This really isn't the case with Zog - there are some very humerous sections which really add to the story. My kids have been watching it non-stop since Christmas, but it is so well done we don't mind (much!).

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• Colorful and enjoyable, even if the message will be writ a bit large for adult viewers

  bob the moo2019-03-09

  This last Christmas the animation from the BBC was another in a handful of film adapting Donaldson's children's books. This one sees a young dragon learning his trade, and when he keep messing up, there is a young girl around to help him out here and there (a girl who also is struggling to learn her 'trade'). The structure of the lesson allows for an engaging episodic approach to the film, and the events are played out with humor. Not really laugh out loud funny often, but amusing and cheering across it all. The animation matches the style of the book well, and looks great - Zog himself is a nice character and none of these dragons will cause bad dreams. The plot ends with a positive message which applies to everyone, but in particular leans into the female character for its delivery. It is a very positive message and it was only the cynic in me that rankled a bit at how clunky it was played out - very direct. Of course then I remember I was watching a children's film based on a children's book, so probably it deserves a pass. The voice cast feels overly starry; they do well but some of them feel almost like distractions - they are cast for this film as an 'event', which I suppose is fine as they do work. Like most of the Donaldson animated films, not the deepest or most impacting film, but enjoyable, accessible, and with a nice easy message.

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• Had my 3 year old in stitches

  tomconder-849-4077482018-12-25

  He loves the book and met zog at Waterstones and the film did not disappoint as he giggled his way through it

• Excellent

  glynwalterjohnsrna2018-12-25

  Absolutely brilliant short film. Well done everyone!

• Fantasy fun film mostly for the little ones

  Horst_In_Translation2018-12-30

  "Zog" is a British 25-minute animated short film from 2018, a holiday release from just a few years ago, and BBC always has at least one of these per year, mostly animated. For some reason, I thought early on that this was some little How to Train Your Dragon spinoff, but no it is not and the dragons look different compared to the successful franchise I just mentioned, but the thing that stroke me different the most was the narration here. Because this one made it very obvious what it was because it is so similar to some other projects by director Max Lang in terms of nursery rhymes and the ways in which they are presented. He is a 2-time Oscar nominee and this was not the first time he worked on a film based on a book by Julia Donaldson. This one here did not make the Oscar short list though if it was even available. I don't know maybe for next year. The animation is fine I think. So is the story. I felt there is nothing that really stands out about this movie, but there is also nothing that sucks. It has some funny moments like when our hero finally thinks he gets the star he always wanted, another dragon comes along and has the ultimate groar. Or how the princess dummy's doll falls off after he "saves" her. A nice reference too about dragons capturing princesses from the creature's perspective here and not from the one of the knight who comes to save her. Anyway, said knight is included too, but not as a major character. He also does not exactly look the handsome hero type. Then again, the princess is not as helpless as it seems as we find out at the very end in a nice little twist. I don't really like films with forced happy ending, but here it felt right and entertaining and also pretty credible. The cast list isn't too shabby either with Lenny Henry, Kit Harrington and Tracey Ullman and we should not forget this is a small screen release, even if there was never any doubt with the makers' history this would turn into a success. It has some charm to it for sure and well Henry's narration makes it probably a better watch for kids than grown-ups and I am saying this as somebody who really likes animated films and thinks there's so many great ones out there for adults too. This one here is not a failure for adults either, not at all. I am just saying maybe kids are more likely to enjoy it and it's probably not a film that will suck grown-ups enthusiastically into the world of animation. Still, there is no hesitation for me in giving this a thumbs-up. Nice attention to detail for all kinds of production values and I suggest you go check it out. Lang and Donaldson deliver again.

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