I never thought I'd hear the words "take him to the torture chamber" in a U rated film but they were uttered in this Magic Roundabout film. As a child in the '70s I watched the television series but as far as I'm aware I never saw this film. Having heard UK film critic Mark Kermode frequently rave about how great this film is I decided to seek it out and must say he was right it is a great film, the eighty minutes just flew past.
Things in the Magic Garden are a little strange, Dougal is having strange dreams about something going on in a disused factory and shortly after Buxton, a blue cat, appears and is instantly popular with everybody except Dougal. Buxton isn't as friendly as he appears and plans to become king with the help of the mysterious Madam Blue in the factory. In order to carry out his plans he captures everybody except Dougal who is forced to dye his hair blue and call himself Blue Peter in order to try to rescue them.
All of the regular characters are here although the new Buxton steals the show with his evil plotting and diabolically sweet torture of Dougal. The animation may look dated next to today's shiny CGI but it is good enough and the great story and fun characters more than make up for that. It is a shame that this great animation doesn't have a DVD release as it is an utter delight and belongs in the collection of any animation fan.
Things in the Magic Garden are a little strange, Dougal is having strange dreams about something going on in a disused factory and shortly after Buxton, a blue cat, appears and is instantly popular with everybody except Dougal. Buxton isn't as friendly as he appears and plans to become king with the help of the mysterious Madam Blue in the factory. In order to carry out his plans he captures everybody except Dougal who is forced to dye his hair blue and call himself Blue Peter in order to try to rescue them.
All of the regular characters are here although the new Buxton steals the show with his evil plotting and diabolically sweet torture of Dougal. The animation may look dated next to today's shiny CGI but it is good enough and the great story and fun characters more than make up for that. It is a shame that this great animation doesn't have a DVD release as it is an utter delight and belongs in the collection of any animation fan.