The film's animation is charming, with a quirky, storybook quality to the whole thing that helps the tale feel timeless, even when mentions of the not-so-distant war conjure up images familiar to older audiences.
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RogerEbert.comNell Minow
RogerEbert.comNell Minow
Stories for children often emphasize courage or teamwork, being yourself, following dreams, or the importance of friends and family. What The Magician’s Elephant adds to that is something rare in films for any age: how to think through problems.
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IGNKenneth Seward Jr.
IGNKenneth Seward Jr.
Despite its limited scope and predictable plot, The Magician’s Elephant succeeds at being a quaint animated film with a positive message.
While the movie itself is more whimsical than magical, it does have a few tricks up its sleeve.
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Paste MagazineTara Bennett
Paste MagazineTara Bennett
Netflix’s adaptation of author Kate DiCamillo’s The Magician’s Elephant makes some fatal tone mistakes in trying to smoosh together comedy, tragedy, childhood wonder and animal exploitation—which clash pretty hard.
It’s heartfelt and sweetly earnest, but humdrum and disappointingly unmagical. The animation doesn’t help: characters speak with blank paralysed faces as if they’ve had botched Botox.
In jazzing up the tale for the screen, Rogers sands down the somberness — Baltese is all fuzzy blues and pinks, with nary a trace of postwar grit — while turning up the silliness for gimmicky thrills.