Review of Monkeys Tale, A

Introduction

A Monkeys Tale is an animated feature aimed at children between 7 and 11 (according to the featurette on the DVD).

Two tribes of monkeys live divided, one high up in the trees, one down in the forest floor. Each tribe regards the other as enemies and savages and their children are educated never to stray into each other`s territory.

Kom (voiced by Matt Hill), falls out of the trees by accident and is found by the leader of the "enemy" tribe who takes him under his wing. Kom makes many new friends and foils a plot against the monarchy and eventually manages to get back to his family, having reconciled the two tribes.

Video

A Monkeys Tale is presented in 1:33:1 full-frame video. The quality throughout the film is above average.

The visuals consist of a combination of watercolour backdrops overlaid with some traditional animation and computer generated visuals. The resulting style is both effective and pleasing to the eye with most backgrounds featuring pastel colours - a stark contrast to the bright colours is Disney films.

Audio

The DVD carries a Dolby Digital Surround soundtrack.

As is becoming normal practice with animated movies, voices are provided by an all star cast including Michael York, Michael Gambon, John Hurt and Rik Mayall - all of whom give good performances. The dialogue is clear throughout the film.

Effects wise, reasonable use is made of the soundstage, with the action mainly centred on the front stereo pair with occasional use made of the rear channels.

There is also some appropriate music and of course "We Are One", performed by Westlife.

Features

Character biographies, a theatrical trailer and a seven minute featurette "Behind the Scenes with Westlife" are included.

The Westlife featurette is little more than an extended trailer featuring some clips of the band singing the song, signing posters and telling us about being thrilled to be asked to sing on a movie soundtrack.

Conclusion

The running time of 76 minute is probably about right - not too long for either children or parents to get bored, and with plenty going on for the whole duration to keep everyone paying attention.

The story is well presented and despite being aimed at children, is interesting enough to allow accompanying adults to enjoy it as well. The plot also tries to educate children of the danger of races living in fear of each other, but is never patronising about it.

Visually and sonically, the film is above average but the extras are disappointing. Whilst technical making-of documentaries are perhaps not appropriate for a children`s title, there is plenty of scope for educational games or DVD-ROM features.

Overall, this may be more appealing to many than the over-produced, over American animations that dominate the market and can be enjoyed by the whole family. It`s just a shame that an opportunity to provide some useful extras was missed.