The Blue Elephant (aka Khan Kluay/2006/Computer
Animated Feature/Jim Henson Company Discoveries/Genius DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: C+
Thailand has
a more diverse cinema than you might expect, from dramas to martial arts to
horror films. Kompin Kemgumnrd had
worked on CG features like Ice Age
and the hand-drawn with CG Atlantis: The
Lost Empire in animator capacity, but here he is as full Director in The Blue Elephant (2006) now on DVD
with a new English dub by The Weinstein Company and The Jim Henson Company as
part of their new partnership.
The story
here is a familiar one, with the title character creating mischief and also
needing a father as his has always been missing. This lite, child-friendly feature has some
heart to it and the new voicing by Miranda Cosgrove, Carl Reiner and Martin
Short is not bad, but I also though the look and approach had some
moments. No, it is not a great feature,
but it is not bad. If you don’t expect
much and have young children, this will be just fine to get.
The 1.33
X 1 image is soft, has some detail issues because of this format, this
transfer, the budget of this feature and possibly because this was meant to be
widescreen, but color is consistent and the style is interesting enough. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix does not have a
great soundfield, but is nicely recorded, though we wonder if the trouble has
to do with the soundfield being affected by any chopping of the widescreen
frame. There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
