The Magician’s Elephant Review – an adorable animated feature

Directed by Wendy Rogers, we review the 2023 Netflix movie The Magician’s Elephant with no spoilers.

The Magician’s Elephant is a popular English fable with a light touch but compelling themes. These include hope, acceptance, love and empathy, the film’s secret weapon. This adaptation of the two-time Newberry Award winner Kate DiCamillos Modern Classic children’s book has a compassion that creeps in. This Netflix cartoon has a little, well, magic in it.

The Magician’s Elephant Review and Plot Summary

The Magician’s Elephant is about an orphan boy Peter (Noah Justus) who longs for a family. Orphaned because of the war, Peter was informed by his guardian Vilna that his mother died while she was pregnant with his sister (Mandy Patinkin). However, the young lad cannot shake off his earliest memories – he’s holding his little sister Adel in his hands. Over the years, Vilna raises Peter. He teaches him to march with a broom in preparation to become a soldier. Dust falls from the ceiling of the childless couple Leo (Brian Tyree Henry) and Gloria (Sian Clifford) who dwells among them, and treat Peter as their own.

One day Peter meets a fortune teller who tells Peter that he has to follow the elephant to find his sister. wait what Yes, that’s all she’ll say to him, but thank god one shows up about an incompetent wizard (Benedict Wong), who accidentally drops an ivory-tusked beast on a grumpy fan who wasn’t enjoying the show. The king (Aasif Mandvi) gets wind of it and takes possession of the animal, but Peter shows a remarkably warm connection to the animal. So the royal leader gives Peter a chance to own it if he can complete three impossible tasks that come to mind. All crazier than the other.

Wendy Rogersa longtime supervisor of visual effects on films from the Narnia series To Water worldThis is her first time behind the camera. The director’s long experience with animation helps her film. Mainly as the story builds up in the second and third acts. One of them is the flashback scene about Peter’s origins during a breathtaking fight. Another reason is Peter’s majestic and wondrous interaction with his elephant as they hop through the clouds. (This scene ultimately explains why the sky in the film looks like a Saturday morning Nickelodeon cartoon).

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My favorite annoyance about the animation here is that the human characters all seem to have the same traits depending on their gender. The men all have upturned oval faces, all with sculpted features, with the boys having Parker Young’s pretty chiseled head that looks a bit from Easter Island, while the women all have horizontal oval features and look just like a stunning Emma Stone. Everyone has big, beautiful eyes and their expressions radiate in the same way. The film features animated animals, including the beautiful scene where our elephant is decorated in the colors of Holi. You’ll also be amazed by the film’s comic relief, particularly a hilarious baby goat that faints and fat street cats. I wish the script would use them more.

Is the 2023 Netflix Movie The Magician’s Elephant Good?

While the film may lack some consistent animation, added humor, and impressive music from major animation studios, The Magician’s Elephant is an adorable animated feature that combines some wonderful animations and a script with a lot of heart.

What is particularly great for parents and their children is how Martin Hynes’ writing uses Peter and the title character as mirror qualities (compassion) and refers to the Countess (empathy).

This is a good animated image for families and fans of the genre alike.

What do you think of the Netflix 2023 movie? The Magician’s Elephant? Comment below.

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