This is a review of the English dub.
Few films have had as much of an impact upon my life as Dougal and the Blue Cat, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't find an occasion quote one of it's innumerable classic lines and smile to myself amongst bemused company. The feature length edition of the classic French children's show, famously completely re-scripted by Eric Thompson upon it's exportation to Britain as the BBC were unwilling to pay extra for the original scripts, it tells the story of Dougal the talking dog and the trouble he and his friends get into when a mysterious blue cat named Buxton shows up with a hidden agenda.
The script is brimming with wit and invention, making reference to niche British places and concerns of the time (listen out for Brian the snail's quip about the train for one of the biggest laughs of the film). Voiced almost totally by the aforementioned Eric Thompson, he brings an array of voices packed with charm to each uniquely designed character, his voice seems made for storytelling, having a strangely absorbing affect that leaves the viewer hanging onto his every word resulting in endless howls of laughter but of course there is another voice to address. The eternally beautiful, queen of the sultry voice Fenella Fielding provides her vocal talents for the disembodied character of Madam Blue, Fielding is at once luscious and incredibly menacing, almost stealing the film out from under Thompson's nose for the scenes she's a part of... almost.
While the writing and voice work contribute much to it's irresistible charms the same must be said for the visuals. Each character is beautifully made and animated and placed into a world that I struggle to describe. I imagine surreal would be the best word to use, when I say surreal I mean it in the most magical sense, you find yourself racking your brain trying to imagine what ingenious mind could come up with such characters and backgrounds and such a stunning colour palette and to throw them all together with such success is another thing altogether.
This is a prime example of how to do a TV show as a film, it overcomes such a popularly problematic formula with pitch perfect pacing and at a nippy 85 minutes it's the exactly the right length. For me it really is the best animated film ever made and firmly in my top 5 films of all time, everything about it is spot on, if you haven't seen it do go and check it out, you won't be sorry.
I hope you enjoyed this review, thanks for taking the time to read it.
Few films have had as much of an impact upon my life as Dougal and the Blue Cat, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't find an occasion quote one of it's innumerable classic lines and smile to myself amongst bemused company. The feature length edition of the classic French children's show, famously completely re-scripted by Eric Thompson upon it's exportation to Britain as the BBC were unwilling to pay extra for the original scripts, it tells the story of Dougal the talking dog and the trouble he and his friends get into when a mysterious blue cat named Buxton shows up with a hidden agenda.
The script is brimming with wit and invention, making reference to niche British places and concerns of the time (listen out for Brian the snail's quip about the train for one of the biggest laughs of the film). Voiced almost totally by the aforementioned Eric Thompson, he brings an array of voices packed with charm to each uniquely designed character, his voice seems made for storytelling, having a strangely absorbing affect that leaves the viewer hanging onto his every word resulting in endless howls of laughter but of course there is another voice to address. The eternally beautiful, queen of the sultry voice Fenella Fielding provides her vocal talents for the disembodied character of Madam Blue, Fielding is at once luscious and incredibly menacing, almost stealing the film out from under Thompson's nose for the scenes she's a part of... almost.
While the writing and voice work contribute much to it's irresistible charms the same must be said for the visuals. Each character is beautifully made and animated and placed into a world that I struggle to describe. I imagine surreal would be the best word to use, when I say surreal I mean it in the most magical sense, you find yourself racking your brain trying to imagine what ingenious mind could come up with such characters and backgrounds and such a stunning colour palette and to throw them all together with such success is another thing altogether.
This is a prime example of how to do a TV show as a film, it overcomes such a popularly problematic formula with pitch perfect pacing and at a nippy 85 minutes it's the exactly the right length. For me it really is the best animated film ever made and firmly in my top 5 films of all time, everything about it is spot on, if you haven't seen it do go and check it out, you won't be sorry.
I hope you enjoyed this review, thanks for taking the time to read it.