Review for The Fool Of The World And The Flying Ship

 
This delightful stop-motion film from Cosgrove Hall Films (famed for kid's shows and movies including 'The Wind in the Willows' and 'The BFG') was another in a series of made-for-TV classic folk stories.

Based on a traditional Russian folk-tale, it positively exudes an East European feel. So much so, in fact, that I suspected it may have heralded from Russia in the first place and merely dubbed into English, though this was not the case.

Originally airing in 1990, this will have great appeal to people in their mid to late twenties who may well distantly remember this airing on its original release. For my own generation, 'The Singing Ringing Tree', in all its East-European majesty and mystery, weaved its own magic and I suspect that this will do the trick equally well for those in the right age window.

Having said that, there is much to enjoy, even without the rose tinted spectacles of nostalgia. This is a charming rendition of an amusing tale, receiving an Emmy for its trouble back in the day.

The curiously titled 'The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship' is a well know Russian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in his classic collection 'The Yellow Fairy Book' and Arthur Ransome in 'Old Peter's Russian Tales'. It's also been said that Terry Gilliam's 1988 film 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen' contains several elements inspired by this story, particularly the opening sequence set at the court of the Grand Turk.

The story starts out with the introduction of a peasant farmer and his wife and their three sons. The two elder sons appear to be very clever, but the third son is a fool. One day, the Tsar of Russia proclaims that whoever builds a flying ship that can sail the sky will win the hand of his daughter, the princess. (He does this because she refuses to marry the men he proposes for her).

The two older brothers set out to try their hand at the challenge - though we don't hear from them again .After some time, the youngest son sets out to find them and by coincidence meets an old man with whom he shares his meagre provisions. The old man weaves some magic in return and whilst the young fool sleeps, he makes him a 'flying ship'.

When the fool wakes he hops in and away he goes. There is one condition though. He must stop for anyone wanting a lift. On the way to the castle he picks up a number of people including a man who is super strong, one who can hear anything around the world, a man who can run faster than the wind, a man who has brilliant eyesight and so on.

When they arrive at the Tsar's palace they are set a string of seemingly impossible tasks to try and scotch on the original deal. The Tsar has no intention of seeing his daughter marry a mere peasant.

But all the fool wants is freedom and he inadvertently meets the Princess and they fall in love, though he is unaware initially that she is the princess.

With all the talents of his crew put to the test, they succeed at all the so-called impossible challenges, and he eventually gets to wed the princess.

Having only received a slightly grotty looking DVD-R with no menu I cannot comment on overall quality (I have no idea whether this was final transfer and compression or not) nor if there are any extras. The feature itself (running at under 60 minutes) was thoroughly enjoyable though and will delight parents young enough to remember this who may want to share the magic with their own children. And you even get the old Thames ident to take you back there! Now that really is magical.

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