THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411300031
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
HOLLYWOOD IS still reeling from the success of movies like ``Free Willy'' and the Disney animation films. Staggering might be the better word, because after last summer's marathon of ``family'' movies, red ink has dripped upon the animators' easels.
It seems that studio moguls, in their effort to copy any success, have overestimated the audience for so-called kiddie movies. Releasing too many of these films at the same time could result in more flops like ``Black Beauty'' and ``Lassie,'' both of which deserved to do better. On any given weekend, either the re-release of ``The Lion King,'' the new ``Swan Princess'' or ``The Pagemaster'' might have done good business. Releasing all three at once was madness.
As it turns out, surprisingly, ``The Pagemaster'' is perhaps the least of the three new entries. The surprise stems from the fact that this is 20th Century Fox's major effort to cash in on the animation market so firmly held by Disney.
It reportedly took three years to produce ``The Pagemaster,'' and major names are involved. If anything, every librarian should champion the film. It is an all-out and well-intentioned call for kids to explore the adventures of reading - egged on by a wizard named the Pagemaster. He introduces such henchpersons as Adventure (the voice of Patrick Stewart), Fantasy (the sassy voice of Whoopi Goldberg) and Horror (the comic relief with the voice of Frank Welker).
The film is partly live action but mostly animated. It begins with the sad story of a boy played by little Macaulay Culkin (filmed three years ago when he was still little) who's afraid of everything. His parents, Ed Begley Jr. and Mel Harris, are worried. The lad can't even have a tuna sandwich because he's afraid of mercury poisoning. When he goes to the library, the nutty librarian (Christopher Lloyd of ``Back to the Future,'' made up to look like Charles Dickens) directs him to the exit. Before he gets there, he's zapped into 'toon land.
The animation is pretty lame. The backgrounds seldom move. There is a pervading dominate color in most scenes. Disney animators have nothing to worry about from this. It's only a step above TV fare, with two brilliant exceptions: the scene in which colors drip from a mural to mix and transport Mac into animation and the scene in which a bean stalk grows from the body of a dragon.
Patrick Stewart, of the new Star Trek spinoff cast, hams it up laughably as Adventure, calling everyone ``matey'' and urging us to put out to sea. Goldberg contributes ethnic stereotypes as Fantasy. When she spies Mother Goose, she simply yells ``Hey, girl.''
The idea is to make an Indiana Jones-style adventure surrounding literary characters. The problem is that too much time is spent on the three masters of ceremonies without enough development of the literary subplots. All the characters get a speedy entrance and then a swift exit.
Long John Silver from ``Treasure Island'' is a welcome presence. There is Captain Ahab in search of ``Moby Dick'' (isn't Melville a little deep for the intended audience?). There is the undersea monster from ``20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.'' There is Gulliver from ``Gulliver's Travels,'' tied town by the little folks. There is Dr. Jekyll being transformed into the terrible Mr. Hyde. There is a fire-eating dragon.
The irony is that this film will probably be liked best by small children of the pre-reading age. The images are fast and varied, but they don't tell a real story with any degree of emotional involvement. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by 20TH CENTURY FOX
Richard Tyler, voiced by Macaulay Culkin, is accompanied by, from
front to back, Horror, voiced by Frank Welker; Adventure, voiced by
Patrick Stewart; and Fantasy, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, in ``The
Pagemaster.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``The Pagemaster''
Cast: Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Ed Begley Jr., Mel
Harris; the voices of Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Frank
Welker
Director: Maurice Hunt (animation) and Joe Johnston (live
action)
Screenplay: David Casci, David Kirschner and Ernie Contreras
MPAA rating: G (suitable for all audiences)
Mal's rating: 2 Stars
Locations: Movies 10 in Chesapeake; Circle 4 in Norfolk; Kemps
River, Lynnhaven Mall and Surf-N-Sand in Virginia Beach
by CNB