In
Julia Donaldson’s fantasy world, it isn’t the damsel who is in distress. It’s the
dragon. “Distress” might be too strong a word, but the trainee dragon has an
awkward habit of getting himself dinged up. Fortunately, Princess Pearl is
always happy to practice her bandaging and care-giving skills in Max Lang &
Daniel Snaddon’s Zog, the latest
animated short film adaptation of Donaldson’s children’s books from Magic
Lantern and the BBC, which screens as part of the Shorts for Tots program at
the 2019 New York International Children’s Film Festival.
Zog
is the keenest of his class of dragons, but he is also the clumsiest. He yearns
for recognition from the dragon head mistress, but he often gets carried away
by his own enthusiasm. Through the machinations of fairy tale fate, the
progressive Princess Pearl happens to be near whenever he has an owie. She
doesn’t care that he’s a dragon and she’s a princess. If truth be told, she
would much prefer to give up her sheltered royal life to become a doctor. In
fact, they might be able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.
All
of the Donaldson short films are cute and wholesome (The Gruffalos, Room on the Broom, The Highway Rat), but Zog is probably the most entertaining
for genre fans, because of the way it gently subverts epic fantasy tropes. They
will also appreciate the voiceover work of Kit Harrington (who clearly knows
his dragons, from his work on Game of
Thrones and in the recording booth for the How to Train Your Dragon franchise) as an equally klutzy knight who
comes to “rescue” Princess Pearl.
Patsy
Ferran’s warm and clear voice makes Pearl sound appealingly smart, confident,
and upbeat, while Sir Lenny Henry serves as the hip narrator. Tracey Ullman
supplies the voices of authority as Madame Dragon and Pearl’s governess, with
Rob Brydon providing other miscellaneous voices, as he has in previous
Donaldson shorts.
Zog is completely
appropriate for youngsters, but some adults might honestly prefer it over the Shrek films (the obvious comparisons),
because it is not constantly compelled to prove how cool and ironic it is. The
Donaldson films are all quite nice, but this is one of the nicest (yet there is
some rather subtle black humor peeking out here and there). Recommended without
reservations for family viewing, Zog screens
as part of Short for Tots, each Saturday and Sunday of this year’s NYICFF
(2/23, 2/24, 3/2, 3/3, 3/9, 3/10, 3/16, and 3/17).
