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Long Way North

Animated / Family
81 minutes / 2015
RATING: 7/10

It’s the 1880s, the North Pole has yet to be reached, and a Russian explorer dreams of doing so. But when his expedition disappears, along with his unsinkable ice-breaking ship, the Russian Tsar offers a million rubles for anyone who can find them. No one does.

Two years later, the explorer’s 15-year-old granddaughter, Sasha, discovers his notes and realizes that everyone has been searching in the wrong area. When she can’t convince anyone to listen – and when her prodding angers a Russian prince and harms her family’s social status – Sasha steals away on her own to discover what really happened. With the lure of the Tsar’s reward, Sasha manages to convince an ice-breaking ship to take her on board.

Cautions

Sasha is the only one who knew where her grandfather’s ship is; all the adults should have listened to her! This “the kid knows best” is a staple in children’s movies. but fortunately it isn’t pushed all that hard here. And Sasha is also shown being rescued by adults who are cleary wiser in these other areas.

The only other caution concerns [SPOILER ALERT] the moment when Sasha finds her grandfather. He’s dead, his body frozen and looking more ice sculpture than corpse, so it isn’t all that scary. And it’s almost as if everyone knew he couldn’t still be alive, so the scene is sad, but not weepy.

Conclusion

This is a sweet story about a granddaughter’s love and respect for her grandfather. What makes it unique is the hand-drawn animation, and the starkly beautiful arctic landscapes. This French/Danish production is drawn in an often lineless form – a carriage in the distance is just a block of color – that’s very different from anything you’re familiar with.

While the first 15 minutes might test the patience of some younger viewers, the director’s leisurely pacing gives the barren ice and waves and wind time to entrance us. This could be a wonderful family film for a quiet night when the snow is blowing up against your own front door.

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Animated, Movie Reviews

The Secret World of Arrietty

Animated / Family 2012 / 94 minutes RATING: 8/10 This is a Japanese animated adaptation of the much loved English book series, The Borrowers. Arrietty is one of the Borrowers – the tiny people, just inches high, who live in our houses, in between the walls, under the floorboards, and in the ceilings. Now that she's 14, she's old enough to accompany her father on his "borrowing" expeditions. It's vital that these little people are never discovered, so even as they are creative sorts, turning leaves into umbrellas, sewing needles into swords, and clothespins into hairclips, they can't make their own goods. To create factories or farms would risk being discovered by the big people, the "beans." That possibility so scares the Borrowers that if a human ever sees them, then they will leave that house, never to return. But on Arrietty's first expedition, to get a single sugar cube, a young boy in the house discovers her. Shawn is a nice boy, newly arrived to the house because he is sick and needs care that his parents can't seem to provide. While he would never hurt Arrietty, or share the secret of her existence with others, the same isn't true of the housekeeper when she also discovers the tiny people, and hires an exterminator to help track them down. CAUTION The only caution relates to the "borrowing" that goes on. What do we call it when someone borrows without asking, and with no intention of ever giving it back? Stealing. In defense of these fictional thieves, they can't ask for permission because then they will be discovered, and they can't make these goods on their own for the same reason. Also, what they take is so negligible as to never be noticed. Still, this "borrowing" is a point parents should raise. In the Curious George TV shows it's noted that George is a monkey so he sometimes does things that we shouldn't. That seems a good warning about the Borrowers too. CONCLUSION While The Secret World of Arrietty was originally done in Japanese, Disney was so entranced by the film they took charge of the English release and did a wonderful job with the dubbing. It is a gorgeous film that many a parent will absolutely love too, especially if they read the Borrowers books in their childhood. And the slower pacing is perfect for any children who find other films too frantic or scary. Yes, there are some tense moments, but there is a lot of beauty and calm in-between as we explore the world as it looks through a set of tiny eyes. ...