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The Magician’s Elephant is a new Netflix animation, where people in the town of Baltese have suddenly just stopped believing in magic, causing the town to go from being vibrant and colourful, to change and getting stuck with horrible clouds in the sky, permanently.
The main focus of the story is Peter (Noah Jupe – A Quiet Place Part II), an orphan being raised by an old soldier, Vilna (Mandy Patinkin), who’s training him to be strong in life, including how he should have stale bread to make his teeth stronger, and small fish so he understands hunger… Hmm… I’m not really sold on those concepts.
Given his parents have passed on, Peter states he knows his sister, Adele (Pixie Davies – Mary Poppins Returns), is out there somewhere, and that the answer is… to follow the elephant. Huh?
Well, the titular magician turns up, trying to resolve everything for the town… and somehow, summons an elephant, and one which is highly ornate, but takes everyone by surprise, obviously.
I know this is based on a fantasy story, but when I saw how Peter is trying to get the elephant to point on a map to where his sister is, I was wondering if the milk in my tea had gone off, and I was getting hallucinations.
Meanwhile, Peter has to complete three tasks, set by The King (Aasif Mandvi – This Way Up), in order to win the elephant. These are to fight Sgt De Smedt (Tom Kenny – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), fly, and get his wife, The Countess (Kirby Howell-Baptiste – The Sandman), to laugh, since she’s suffered hardship and never cracks so much as a smile. Yes, she’s been forced to watch ITV’s The Family Pile on a loop.
Narrated by Nastasia Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats), personally, while I can see The Magician’s Elephant would be good viewing for a family, and that there’s good animation, I couldn’t really get into this. Animation can be hit or miss for me, so if these sorts of films are regularly your bag and/or you’ll be watching them as a family, then you don’t need to listen to a word I’ve said 😀
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
The Magician’s Elephant is on Netflix from March 17th, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 103 minutes
Release date: March 17th 2023
Studio: Netflix
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Director: Wendy Rogers
Producer: Julia Pistor
Screenplay: Martin Hynes
Novel: Kate DiCamillo
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Voice Cast:
Peter: Noah Jupe
Vilna Lutz: Mandy Patinkin
Leo Matienne: Brian Tyree Henry
Narrator/Fortune teller: Natasia Demetriou
Gloria Matienne: Sian Clifford
The Magician: Benedict Wong
Madam LaVaughn: Miranda Richardson
The Countess: Kirby Howell-Baptiste
The King: Aasif Mandvi
Adele: Pixie Davies
Sister Marie: Dawn French
Yvette (Excited woman): Cherise Boothe
Mrs Taylor, Heckler, Iris, Minister of Treasury, De Smedt’s Mum: Katy Cavanagh-Jupe
Townsperson, Worried Man 1, LaVaughn’s attendant, Fleeing soldier: Stephen Kearin
Minster of Defense, Tomas, Sgt De Smedt, Potato seller, Driver, Stage Manager: Tom Kenny
Fish monger, Minister of Justice, Old Jailor, Sentry: Phil LaMarr
Human Cannonball: John DiMaggio
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.