Customer Reviews

Davie & Golimyr

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Davie & Golimyr tells a story based on David and Goliath from the Bible. This animated short film for young children is charming. Much of the story is told in rhyming verses and the characters and scenery are drawn with great attention to detail. The movie uses great techniques to capture the attention of young children--people wear hats with people living inside of those hats; and there is a windmill that starts if you sneeze! The plot moves along at a good pace and overall the film should hold a young child's attention very well. The film also aims to tell children that with faith in themselves and a high power they can do just about anything. Incredibly, this movie does it all and more in just 45 minutes. Excellent!

David, who represents any young child, wants to be all grown up right away so he can be a famous and triumphant warrior for his people, The Zites. Unfortunately, Davie is just too young and too small--five years in a row he fails the test to become a warrior. He's also not exactly cut out to be a warrior; he raises pears and enjoys the company of a sheep for a mascot. Just as things look bleakest for Davie; things also begin to look pretty bleak for the Zites. A giant monster named Golimyr threatens to destroy all the Zites' land and property to dethrone their king and become their ruler.

Now since we all know this is based on the Biblical story of David and Goliath, I'm sure you can figure out the ending. However, this film takes things one step further--the giant learns to be kind and the Zites show the importance of forgiving one's mistakes as they take the reformed Golimyr into their midst.

I do agree with the reviewer who writes that the animation is somewhat like older animation that we saw in TV specials like Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and others from decades ago. On the other hand, however, the colors are very pretty and it still works very well.

The DVD doesn't really come with any extras; there are some "sneak peeks" that work essentially as ads to entice young children to beg their parents to buy them more DVDs.

Overall, this fine short animated motion picture teaches the value of standing up for what you believe in and the value of faith in a higher power to enable you to reach your goals. We see Davie never gives up; this is another important lesson to children about life. We also see that bad people can be reformed by kindness and understanding. This makes Davie & Golimyr an excellent animated short film for young children.

I first saw this on display behind a store window in Park City Utah during the Sundance Film Festival -- the look intrigued me, which is why I decided to pick this up and show my kids. The design is by James Christensen, the fantasy artist, and as with all of his work there is a whimsical and ingenious feel to the characters (little homunculi in some of the characters heads, wings on sheep, etc.). The animation itself is fairly crude, but in a good way -- it resembles all of those old Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. In the end, the style and story felt a bit kitchy to me but my kids were amused, and laughed fairly often. They had fun with this and I guess they are the target audience. I can't see myself ever sitting down to watch it again but I bet they will.

I am a regular viewer of faith channels on Saturday mornings, and I am fascinated by the imagination and creativity of so many directors and churches in producing so many wonderful shows for children. These days we need more of it, and not less. The story of David and Goliath is retold so many times and in so many ways that it has become part of our lives irrespective of faiths. One of the highlights of this DVD is hearing the voice of John Schneider who entertained so many fans as Bo Duke in Dukes of Hazard, and later in the WB drama Smallville. The story is told with the same moral theme; through faith in God you can conquer anything in life no matter how small or weak you are.

When a giant named Golimyr threatens the village of Zites, their King Sullic calls for a hero to fight the enemy. Davie, a peaceful pear grower with a sling, a sheep named Chop, and strong faith in God volunteers to save the village. At the end of the show the giant Golimyr repents for his meanness and he is forgiven by Zites; this ending is appropriate for children. This animated show is 45 minutes long and it is very entertaining for both young and old; highly recommended.


1. The Gospel Bill Show (Volumes 1 thru 8)

I watched this DVD on my own one afternoon, and other than being a version of the biblical story and a tale of faith, it really wasn't all that interesting. The stop-motion animation was unusual and imaginative, but the strangeness of some of the characters detracted from the telling of the story, which, by the way, was done in rhyme.

Deciding that I was perhaps a bit older than the target audience, I ran it for my son, and his very first comment was that it wasn't drawn properly. I spent the next fifteen minutes fielding questions about why some of the people had other people living on their heads, and others didn't, and why they didn't have legs, and why did a sheep have wings, and why the people were so ugly. The narrator and his minstrel were considered b-o-ring, and he lost interest in everything except the final battle. (He didn't make it all the way to the end of the DVD)

PROS:
1. Slightly different retelling of the story of David & Goliath, where the young hero proves his faith in God using a sling, some stones and a spiritually-enhanced pear.
2. Not your standard animation
3. Only 45 minutes long

CONS:
1. The characters, while quirky and unusual, don't fit in very well with the flow of story, causing unnecessary distractions
2. Many unlikeable characters
3. Golimyr has a teddy bear????
4. The rhyme gets lost in the muddle

Recommended for fans of the art of James C. Christensen, and children who don't ask too many questions. I'd prefer to stick with more traditional interpretations of the story.



Amanda Richards, April 4, 2008

When you retell a Bible story of David and Goliath, you may want to entertain as well as recant the ideals of the story. This DVD presentation seem like an episode of a set of Bible stories

This stop motion animation seems very well made in regards to animation. It is cute in spots, but the 30 minutes seems to take forever to tell.

John (Pa Kent from Smallville) Schneider tries to do the voice of Golimyr (Goliath), but it comes across as its weakest link with a few vocal grunts.

The storytelling is sharp. I would have enjoyed seeing if therer were any others in this Bible collection if it was available

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Do you like to learn that a happy ending can also have a moral? I do! That is why I enjoyed watching this inventively animated with my son who was enthralled.
The moral was simple: Be kind and you will all learn to live happily together. This is actually the Golden Rule, I suppose.

I love the clever animation, and the narration by John Schneider. I am sure that we will watch this DVD time and again, as it has the quality of a moving fairy tale which is remarkably fun to watch. I don't think I have ever seen anything so fabulously created. The main characters were very appealing as well; Davey and his lamb, "Chops" who has a lot of jewelry on (I am a designer--I can't help liking sheep with jewelry!) are really loveable. They are brave and strong, too, when others keel over in the face of the fearful Giant. They don't give up...! The Giant learns his lesson, and we ALL have a great time!

I got this video for my two grandsons, ages 3 and 8, so I think that I'll just pass on to you what they said about the movie.

My 8 year old grandson said that he like the movie, especially because "it was weird." He said the animation was different and that the characters "spoke in poetry."

My 3 year old grandson simply loved it. The movie kept him entertained the entire time and he occasionally voiced his approval by laughing or yelling at the screen. He like the movie so much that literally as soon as the video ended he was begging to watch it again.

It's a good story, suitable for kids of all ages.

The animators at Ageless Animation have done a fantastic job of creating a storybook scenery with castles upon islands, magical characters, and imaginative machinery in this retelling of the David and Goliath story of 1 Samuel 17.

Instead of being a shepherd boy, Davie is a pear grower with a flying sheep sidekick named Chop. Golimyr is a mean giant who threatens the peaceful kingdom of the Zites. Inspired by a pear who jumps up the steps, Davie realizes that it is not how small or weak he is, but that it is God who is bigger than all that he can depend on to help him. When the kingdom is threatened, no one would sign up to help, except for Davie who relies on his faith in God to give him the victory.

In a twist to the ending of the Biblical story, Golimyr repents of his meanness and is forgiven by the Zites.

The plot of this story is simple enough for children to understand and the animation and creativity of the creatures, machinery, and sets is a joy to admire, with details that delight you to notice them, even in second and third viewings.

This "Davie and Golimyr" DVD contains a cute, but faithful cartoon adaptation of the classic Bible story of David and Goliath. The animation is stop motion, aned obviously not quite on the level with the latest barrage of pixar and Dreamworks cartoon features. That said, it is entertaining and engaging, if not such a dazzling visual feast for chronically over-stimulated young eyes and minds.

John Schneider, known to many parents my age from "Dukes of Hazzard," does a good job with the voice narration. My 7 year old daughter enjoyed it and laughed through it, although even she said it was not quite on par with the Veggie Tales or Shrek. Still good, clean family entertainment, and clocking in at about 45 minutes- it is just the right length for many younger children who get squirmy trying to sit through feature length movies.

"Davie and Golymir" is definitely worth checking out if you have toddler or young elementary age kids and are looking for something fun and relatively short that has a good message.

Poor "Davie & Golimyr"; this stop-motion animated video wants so badly to be an installment of Veggie-Tales, but never quite gets there. The animation itself is pretty impressive, with lots of detail and fluidity, and the voicing of the characters is also top-notch, even though the characters themselves are a bit off-center. It's the script that causes everything to go off track. As other reviewers have noted, the entire story is told in rhyme, (with some questionable rhyme schemes, if you want to be picky about it....and I do), and the novelty wears off pretty quick. My biggest qualm is regarding the writer's choice to tell a slightly-skewed verision of David and Goliath with this video. As other reviewers have asked, why not just re-tell the original story instead of rewriting the Biblical account? There is such a thing as too much poetic license.

*SPOILER ALERT*

I was rather aggravated that they chose to have the Davie character actually MISS the first time he throws a stone at the giant, and then finally make a successful shot by hitting the giant with a PEAR instead. (huh??) And while I suppose I can understand the producer's choice of not wanting to show Davie actually killing the giant in a kid's video, the decision to have the giant turn NICE after being hit in the head, was a little ridiculous.

*END SPOILER*

In short, I'd have a hard time reccomending this video. Too much poetic license in the re-telling of a Bible story is not a good thing.