Search - Elephant Tales on DVD

Beautiful cinematography, cute animals, so-so story

mk | parker, CO United States | 12/11/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A French- Australian film of African baby elephants on an 'Incredible Journey' that looses steam and interest quickly for all ages.



It begins with bouncy music and a stunning, bird's eye panorama. Two adorable, little pachyderms, Zef and Tutu, loose their families to poachers. They then embark on a search for the great Rainbow, hoping to find loved ones. Along the way they are helped by various other actor animals including Chump the Chimp, Stretch the Giraffe, and Cub. They face perils and adventures and climax with a 'battle' with The Badness and eventually, finally, discover their destiny.



The story is narrated by a pair of cheetahs, and there's a running conversation from the animals heard as human voices in the background. I don't want to bash this well-meaning, predictable movie too much, but after the first 20-30 minutes and the initial allure of the well photographed animals, the kids(ages 2 and 5) were moving on to other activities.



Mario Andreacchio directed and has plenty of experience workng with four legged stars, and is quite capable with the genre, but the story is flat, the message too much and cutes only go so far. For you '24' fans, he also directed Keifer Sutherland in a little known flick about Paul Gauguin called 'Paradise Found'. Again with lots of gorgeous scenery.



Overall, for your pre-schoolers, skip the early poacher part: they show the elephant herd shootings as lights in the night sky. Elementary schoolers might watch the whole film without yawning, but it's not memorable. Teenagers- forget it. And for us adults, it's a snoozer. Rent it, if you wish, at a Cheapo-Box."