Peter & The Wolf - Sergei Prokofiev [2006]

Product Details

Director : Suzie Templeton
Format : Dubbed, PAL
Aspect Ratio : 1.78:1
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0807280180497
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : DVD
Region Code : 2
Release Date : 2006-11-13
Running Time : 110minutes
Studio : Arthaus Musik
UPC : 807280180497

ASIN : B000JJRA96

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Customer Reviews

Scary for young children (2008-09-18)

I've just seen this film and it is totally brilliant and i loved it. Except I didn't get to see the end as both our children were pretty terrified of it. They know the story really well from the music and the wonderful Ian Beck book which is probably our most read book. However for a 2 year old and 4 year old it was pretty scary. I'm amazed that its classified as U. Thats my only reason for not giving 5 stars! So as long as you're 6 years or above consider this review a 5 stars!!!

A work of art made with huge dedication (2007-08-31)

In this animated film Suzie Templeton has remained fairly faithful to Prokofiev's original story. There are subtle differences where the story has been adapted for the modern audience and for when the medium of animation make a change necessary. Prokofiev's wonderful music remains unchanged. As there is no dialogue from any of the characters and no narration it is the animation alone which gives the film its narrative. The hunters are portrayed as two incompetent and cowardly thugs which means that there is a tiny bit of violence in the film. In a scene near the beginning (before any of Prokofiev's music) Peter accidentally collides with one of the hunters in the street and so annoyed is the hunter that he pins Peter up against a wall and then throws him in to a rubbish bin.The duck pond in the meadow is frozen over which allows for some really good animation as the bird and the duck skate and frolic across the ice. In the original narratored musical versions of this part of the story I suppose one could argue that the dialogue is slightly flawed when the bird says to the duck "what kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" because of course ducks can fly!. Could there be any children out there who grew up believing ducks can't fly as a result of listening to Peter and the wolf?. No such dialogue occurs in this film version so no such misunderstanding can occur.The animation and attention to detail throughout the film is magnificent. Every hair and piece of fur (all artificial) was placed with tweezers strand by strand and it took an artist a whole month to cover the wolf with fur!. The facial expressions are wonderful and the skin of the human characters is very life like, one of the best examples is the grandfathers hands which look old and veined.The way in which the animation is so accurately synchronised to the music is brilliant too in this perfect marriage of the two art forms.There is even humour. The funniest part of the film is when the bird escapes from the cat. He flies on to the branch of a tree and then deliberately poops in the cats face at which the duck can be heard laughing in the background.Templeton has given a twist to the ending of her film so do not read on if you want the ending to be a surprise. After Peter has caught the wolf he and his grandfather put him in a cage and take him to the city market in grandfathers car. When they arrive in the city crowds gather and taunt the imprisoned wolf. Peter takes pity on the wolf. Having been at times virtually imprisoned himself by his over protective grandfather he makes a connection as he stares into the eyes of the wolf and so he opens the cage allowing the wolf to escape to freedom.

Agree with all the rest (2007-05-17)

This inspired me to make my own animation.(Not quite to the same standard perhaps, but ok!)This is one of the most captivating films I've seen in a long time. Animation, when its done this well, can draw you in far deeper than film. The models are amazingly good, as is the quality of the animation.There is humour, darkness and a complex understanding of the story of Peter and the Wolf.Brilliant.

This has done Prokofiev proud! (2007-03-06)

What a fantastic short film!I didn't realise this was only 30 minutes long, but it manages to feel like a full length feature because of the exquisite animation and of course the fabulous music.The main thing that struck me when I started watching this, was the realism of the models used. they are so lifelike in both visuals and movement. Peter himself has the most emotive eyes, every scene where his eyes are visible mesmerises you as a viewer - it really is amazing how this film grips you.The truth is, if the visuals had been poor, the film would still have been watchable as long as the music was well performed. In this case the music is fantastic and the visuals are the best I've seen in modelwork, this raises this beyond film, beyond art, and into another realm. I can watch this over and over again. So much attention to detail has been given to this project. Little things such as movements of hands are done brilliantly. One of my favourite images is that of the Duck after Peter is locked back in the yard by his Grandfather. The Duck looks a bit forlorn and stares at the gate wondering if Peter is 'coming back out to play' - he raises his wings slightly a few times, you have to see it to understand exactly what I mean. But it gives the Duck a real feel of character.I love this film, and hopefully you will too.

A brilliantly realised labour of love (2007-01-31)

The wonderful film aside, the DVD is worth having for the generous extras, including behind the scenes interviews and a feature on the making of the film. The work-in-progress detail including the hand-built rigs necessary for some of the more difficult animation is fascinating as is the explanation of the use of CGI to edit those same sequences. A complete joy... how about Stanley and Dog on DVD?

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