1994's 'Five Chinese Brothers' is part of the fascinating and consistently high quality "We All Have Tales" series from Rabbit Ears Productions, a series of adaptations of fairy-tales and folk-tales from around the world.. This is one of not many instances for the Rabbit Ears Productions adaptations where the original story was actually not known to me prior, after experiencing this it did get me interested in stories from China.
This may not be one of the best of the "We All Have Tales" (the second longest running Rabbit Ears Productions series after "Storybook Classics") series, but that it still manages to be so great says a good deal about how good the best adaptations are. 'Five Chinese Brothers' is also not one of the best Rabbit Ears Productions adaptations as an overall whole, again though that says a lot about how brilliant the best of them are and many of them are absolutely brilliant.
Not much wrong actually, though the character designs occasionally could have been smoother. It may be missing the extra something of the best adaptations of the "We All Have Tales" series (which to me are 'The Fool and the Flying Ship', 'Peachboy', 'Koi and the Kola Nuts' and 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'). The character design of the Brahmin on first viewing took getting used to. Then again that is just personal preference. That is pretty much it when it comes to criticisms though.
On a visual level, 'Five Chinese Brothers' is simple, shall never call it limited though, but looks great. Especially the vibrant backgrounds and the transitions never look awkward, and the Brahmin's character design has grown on me overtime. Really liked that it was like looking at carefully crafted illustrations from a picture book.
Bill Douglas and David Austin provide a very sumptuous Oriental score that really effectively gives a sense of time and place.
John Lone's narration is the equivalent of a sensitive yet also enthuastic storyteller at bedtime, getting to deliver very thought probing and nuanced dialogue. The characters engage and the story is always absorbing, charming and tense.
Concluding, great. 9/10.
This may not be one of the best of the "We All Have Tales" (the second longest running Rabbit Ears Productions series after "Storybook Classics") series, but that it still manages to be so great says a good deal about how good the best adaptations are. 'Five Chinese Brothers' is also not one of the best Rabbit Ears Productions adaptations as an overall whole, again though that says a lot about how brilliant the best of them are and many of them are absolutely brilliant.
Not much wrong actually, though the character designs occasionally could have been smoother. It may be missing the extra something of the best adaptations of the "We All Have Tales" series (which to me are 'The Fool and the Flying Ship', 'Peachboy', 'Koi and the Kola Nuts' and 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'). The character design of the Brahmin on first viewing took getting used to. Then again that is just personal preference. That is pretty much it when it comes to criticisms though.
On a visual level, 'Five Chinese Brothers' is simple, shall never call it limited though, but looks great. Especially the vibrant backgrounds and the transitions never look awkward, and the Brahmin's character design has grown on me overtime. Really liked that it was like looking at carefully crafted illustrations from a picture book.
Bill Douglas and David Austin provide a very sumptuous Oriental score that really effectively gives a sense of time and place.
John Lone's narration is the equivalent of a sensitive yet also enthuastic storyteller at bedtime, getting to deliver very thought probing and nuanced dialogue. The characters engage and the story is always absorbing, charming and tense.
Concluding, great. 9/10.