Customer Reviews

The Blue Elephant

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My wife bought this movie after seeing an ad on tv and thinking my 2 yr old son would like the cute little blue elephant. And he does. The animation is good and there are plenty of different characters although the story follows just one of them for 95% of the movie. I sat down and watched this all the way through only once with my son, as he's at the age where he can only handle 20 minutes of story line at a time (not helped by the fact all his tv shows are about 10 to 20 minutes an episode).

But once we got into the third act, things I thought got a little disturbing. There are a lot of war scenes towards the end, and throughout the whole story there are a lot of fights, teasing, slightly creepy images of red eyed monstrous elephants (the animation makes them look more like demons than elephants), and I basically felt uncomfortable with my two year old staring at it. I also didn't like the message about war being a necessary thing in society (actually I was quite shocked when they said that in a kid's movie supposedly about a cute blue elephant).

The bottom line is there's nothing about the cover of the DVD and the ads that depict what the movie is actually like. I'm not saying it isn't an enjoyable movie, but it might not be what you're expecting, especially after the first 5 minutes are all cute and cuddly and then it turns into a slightly scary film about war and death. I would watch it first as a parent before letting your child view it to gauge if it's something you feel comfortable letting your child watch.

My child thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully animated film. She's watched it several times this weekend, and wants a copy of her own. (we rented this one) Although I agree, that for smaller children, it might be scary. The cover art DOES NOT give you a good idea of what the film is all about, however, I do think that in the situation presented in the movie (Siam being invaded by Burma), that the war is justified, even though it obviously wasn't what the animals or the people wanted. They wanted peace, but knew they could never have it without fighting for it. Appropriate film for 4 and up, in my opinion.

This is the movie from Thailand. The story is about the old day history of Thailand which teach kids and entertain at the same time. My son loves this movie so much. I do recommend this movie to everyone. Not only fun but also educated.

My husband and both thought this movie was very violent for our 3 year old grandson. I was very disappointed with the movie...

My 3-year old picked this movie as a purchase from a Blockbuster that was closing. She thought the cover was very cute. The first half hour of the movie is just that. My 6-year old laughed hysterically for about 15 minutes straight. It does get scary with images of war and an evil demon-eyed black elephant. My 3-year old left the room for some of those parts. The actual scenes of fighting and war are fairly short, and less intense than some other animated movies such as Mulan. Also, SPOILER --- the elephant's father was actually killed in the war. I had to explain that to my kids as they didn't understand that from the movie. This movie may lead to some discussions about war. You can be the judge of whether that is appropriate for your children. My 6-year old wasn't too scared or concerned with the war scenes, she just wanted to see the funny parts again. The story is decent and the animation was well done.

When you stop to consider what a pioneer in puppetry the late Jim Henson was, it should really come as no surprise that his family members and associates have never strayed far from the craft of animation and quality children's entertainment. These days the hot ticket doesn't involve puppets, or for that matter, even drawn animation. Computer generated animation is all the rage (just ask Pixar) and the Jim Henson Group has been responsible for four entries into the genre at present. Three of these fall under the "Unstable Fables" umbrella and the fourth, being reviewed here, is a solitary piece targeted toward younger viewers.

Rest easy if you find yourself wondering why this one failed to wrestle moviegoer proceeds away from the likes of Shrek or Finding Nemo; Blue Elephant was a direct to DVD affair (back in 2008) based on a 2006 Thai-produced film called Khan Kluay. In its native Thailand the film did enjoy theatrical release, not to mention gained status as the highest grossing film that year, and managed to rack up over a dozen prestigious awards in the process.

I am known for, among other things, criticizing the act of taking a foreign animated work, dubbing an English vocal track then pawning it off as a new experience in my critiques and it's not because I suspect the concept can't work. Rather, traditionally, it hasn't worked and those seeking verification of these claims need look no further than to Impy's Island, Dolphin the Story of a Dreamer, The Snurks or Doogal for concrete evidence of just how wrong things can go in the translation process.

Surprisingly, Blue Elephant is one of the stronger entries to have undergone this exact treatment and while in no danger of threatening Pixar or DreamWorks, the film manages to succeed on multiple levels of entertainment.

The story thread of the film follows the trials and tribulations of a young, blue-skinned elephant named Khan Kluay as he discovers the world he was born into, longs to meet his absent Royal warrior father, and eventually comes to befriend a Siamese boy prince, Naresuan, who has been ransomed to the Burmese in the process.

The will to track down his father is so strong in fact that the young elephant ends up wandering away from the protection of his brood and is soon captured by a Burmese raiding party. This leads to his being separated from his mother as well and his becoming romantically involved with a young pink female elephant.

Of course there are numerous subplots about concerning his budding romance with said female elephant, some political turmoil between feuding human nations, and a bit of an attempt at comic relief that never really develops.

So here's where this review is about to get complicated. It is truly quite difficult to pinpoint exactly whom this film targets in its domestic presentation. A majority of the visuals are colorful and overly simplistic, that, when coupled to the flatfoot scripting, affirm suspicions that the goal is to have the film appeal to very young kids. However, the back story is a bit more politically charged than most children are capable of processing and though it's done tastefully, the visuals become surprisingly barbaric in the later sequences especially, divulging what appears to be a centuries-old rift between Siam and neighboring Burma. The film culminates in a clash of human armies that, no exaggeration harkens to some of the famous battle sequences in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Return of the King.

Make no mistake, the overall message here is quite appropriate for viewers of all ages and there is no real visual violence to be leery of, but individuals expecting the type of age-tested perfection that comes from say, Disney, may be caught a bit off-guard.

Visually the film holds up surprisingly well. The characters are a bit on the goofy side with apparent indecision as to whether to super-deform them into comedic proportions or attempt to stick to as close to reality as possible. The background textures are certainly more consistently impressive throughout however and the lighting during the battle sequences is also noteworthy for its ability to establish mood.

The language track is passable with a few moments where the potential to derail and sink the credibility of the project that present themselves along the way. Fortunately the actors never cross that line here and manage to keep the prose moving along in a fairly believable manner. I suspect that much of the actor freedom in this particular film stems from the fact that the characters' mouth flaps are pretty well covered by the presence of their trunks. Had the US crew have to not only translate the material but also match onscreen mouth flaps, there's a good chance this one would be as disastrous as Dolphin The Story of a Dreamer.

In conclusion kids will likely enjoy the clean visuals and simple dialog exchanges here (and potentially come away from the experience having picked up a valuable lesson or two). The political conflicts and feuding nations angle would probably have appealed to adult viewers but in this case only those patient enough to endure the overly simplistic light-heartedness in the foreground.

I can state with authority that, thanks to the fact that it does away with the constant tongue-in-cheek attempts at humor found in the three Unstable Fables, this is the strongest entry in the Jim Henson Group stable. While it may not do anything exemplary, it doesn't commit too many crimes either and when it comes to imported animation projects; that's pretty high praise indeed.

I ordered this item after Christmas and it never arrived. I contacted seller and they refunded my purchase promptly. I was very impressed. HOwever, I would still like the movie.

We (wife and I) do not advocate sitting our child in front of the TV, but we do give our son a couple of hours a day to watch his favorite movie(s), especially before he lays down for a nap.

Our son who is 19 months old, half Thai and half American loves this movie, along with "Finding Nemo", and "Bambi". The war scenes are mild and do not phase him in the slightest.

Although the animation may not be as good as Pixar, it is still visually impressive, keeping his attention. I think that the "Blue Elephant" is an underrated movie, and hope that more viewers will take notice.

My son(2 1/2 yrs.old) loves elephants and loves this movie and watches it all the time!!! Great price and delivery.

I thought the movie was very cute and I am a 60 year old woman but i like elephants and i like well done children's movies unless they are for the very young.