The Visuals Soar But the Rest Drags in Legend of the Guardians

I'm a sucker for talking-animal movies, so when I saw advertisements for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, based on the intermediate series about warrior owls, I was intrigued. I'd seen the books but had never read them, and I thought this might serve as a good introduction to that world. Now that I've watched it, my interest in the books has dwindled. Granted, it's generally not a good idea to judge a book by its film adaptation, and I do get the sense that this story would work better on paper. But I can't say the plot really grabbed me either.

Legend of the Guardians is a computer-animated movie directed by Zack Snyder and starring a host of voice actors from England, Australia and New Zealand. Some of them, like Helen Mirren, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia and Sam Neill, are familiar to me; most aren't. All of the characters, aside from a peculiar snake who serves as a nursemaid to the family of Soren (Jim Sturgess), are owls, and all of them have unusual names, and all those accents sort of blended together for me and I had a rather hard time telling everyone apart. My favorite characters are Digger (Wenham) and Twilight (LaPaglia), who basically serve as comic relief, which is sorely needed in this dark and sometimes disturbing movie.

The animation, while perhaps not quite at a Pixar level, is very well done, particularly when it comes to the backgrounds. The enormous Tree of Ga'Hoole, where the legendary Guardians live, is breathtakingly gorgeous, and some of the scenes of the owls in flight are as well. There's a Tolkienish quality to the film, with the Guardians whom Soren seeks light-bathed, ethereal and reminiscent of the Elves. Meanwhile, the evil owls from whom the kidnapped Soren escapes reside in a stronghold reminding me of Saruman's fortress of Isengard. Here, the cruel Pure Ones, led by Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton) and Nyra (Mirren), forge weapons and build an army out of abducted owlings brainwashed into obedience.

It's a pretty basic quest story, with Soren, having been taken by the Pure Ones, making his escape with some help from the grizzled Grimble (Weaving), who assures him that the legends he's heard about the Guardians are true, that they really do exist and he must go to them for help before Metalbeak's rise to power is complete. Undertaking this mission involves a leap of faith, as Soren must decide whether to believe Grimble or his own brother, Kludd (Ryan Kwanten), who says it's a load of hogwash. But Kludd has chosen to ally himself with Nyra, and he and Soren never saw eye to eye anyway, so the budding hero makes his choice, laying the groundwork for a future showdown with his hard-hearted sibling, who later uses their little sister as a means of gaining greater rank within the Pure army.

It's a simple story, but I found it hard to stay engaged with it. My mind kept wandering, and the oppressive feel of the film didn't help. While there's nothing too graphic, the movie is certainly violent, and the depiction of the brainwashing of the young abductees is just plain creepy. It's dark, and frankly, it's also dull more often than not. At more than an hour and a half in length, it's on the long side for an animated film, and the length doesn't do it any favors. I also found the use of pop music rather incongruous and distracting (though I have to smile that one of the included songs is by Owl City).

I like the epic feel of the movie and the way it explores ideas about faith and about the boundaries between legend and reality. Parts of it are visually dazzling, and some of the banter between Digger and Twilight is pretty funny. The voice work is fine as well, with Weaving, Wenham, LaPaglia and a bone-chilling Mirren standing out the most. But I wouldn't watch it again, and if a sequel comes out, as the film's conclusion suggests may be the case, I think I'll give it a pass.

Thimbleberry Stories is a Drowsy Delight

This year, I have become a big fan of Cynthia Rylant. I've gotten a kick out of the daily adventures of young Henry and his big dog Mudge, been warmed by the tender tales of elderly Mr. Putter and his creaky cat Tabby, giggled at the antics of portly Poppleton the pig and his furry friends. But I never encountered the charming chipmunk Nigel until my friend Beth pointed me in his direction. Thimbleberry Stories is a collection of four tales about this agreeable rodent and his friends, who live in a very English-looking countryside brought to life through the illustrations of Maggie Kneen. A few small details, like the fact that all the species represented in the book are native to America but not all are found in England, make me think that Nigel and his friends are actually living in America, but the overall feel is very British and reminiscent of The Wind in the Willows, Winnie-the-Pooh and other such dreamy anthropomorphic animal stories.

In Nigel Meets Dipper, the chipmunk takes a break from gardening to get to know his new neighbor, a hummingbird. Dipper is a friendly fellow, but he experiences the world very differently than Nigel, being so much smaller and speedier. His unusual perspective does not prevent him from experiencing life deeply, however, as he demonstrates to his new friend when he shows him the landscapes he has been painting. I love Kneen's soft pictures of the hummingbird and chipmunk homes, daintily settled amongst lush grass and bright flowers. They look like lovely places to live. While each story in the book features Nigel, each of the friends is restricted to one story, aside from passing references, so we don't see Dipper again, but meeting such a cheerful, imaginative creature is a great way to start the book.

Little Owl Redecorates is both silly and sweet. Little Owl is a fastidious bachelor, and his sense of balance is thrown all out of whack when he welcomes a new plant into his home. His attempts to make room for it escalate into the overwhelming undertaking of rearranging all of his furniture. Nigel has a project of his own to work on when Little Owl comes to him for help, but he abandons it in favor of assisting his friend. Nigel's level-headedness is welcome in the midst of his friend's frenzied chaos, and the patient chipmunk is able to hit upon just the right solution to the owl's problem.

Claudius Plants a Garden introduces us to Claudius and Copper, a snake and butterfly who live in the meadow and are the best of friends. One day, Nigel decides to visit them, bringing along a gift of strawberries, which Claudius has never tasted before. He is so taken with the berries that he decides to grow some of his own, and even though Nigel knows that Claudius is a very lethargic creature, not at all inclined to make extra work for himself, he provides him with plants and helps him prepare his garden. But can Claudius keep the garden up when Nigel goes back home?

Mudpuppy's Picnic reminds me very much of The Wind in the Willows and makes me long for an afternoon out in the lagoon with an overflowing picnic basket. Nigel's boating companion is Mudpuppy, a very health-conscious salamander. Because Nigel is such a considerate chipmunk, he never tells Mudpuppy that he does not find his health food tasty. When Mudpuppy invites him on a boat ride culminating in a picnic, he agrees, but secretly wonders what unpleasant food he'll have to force down. Mudpuppy is such a skilled navigator and Nigel such a willing passenger that dread of the impending food is soon forgotten. But what will happen when the time comes to eat?

All four of these stories have a lovely, drowsy feeling to them. They encourage readers to embrace life's simple pleasures and to value their friends and accommodate them despite personal differences. Nigel is slower than Dipper, less fussy than Owl, less lazy than Claudius, less health-conscious than Mudpuppy. Each of his friends has quirks; Nigel has his own. But he always strives to meet his friends halfway, and his friendships flourish as a result of his willingness to put their feelings first. While I am an established Rylant fan, and her prose here is lyrical and engaging, Kneen's illustrations are just as delightful as the text, full of soft color and tiny details. The borders atop the pages that change with the story add an extra nice touch. For a perfectly cozy anytime read, give Thimbleberry Stories a try. It's enchanting.

Lovable Owl Another Treat for Frog and Toad Fans

Last week, I was in San Diego, and it was warm. So warm we walked around all day in t-shirts, our jackets at the hotel a distant memory. Back in Erie, it's snowing, so it's back on with the triple layers. Better yet, it's back on with a snuggly blanket and a cozy book, and a perfect selection for this situation is Arnold Lobel's Owl At Home.

Lobel has long been a favorite of mine, particularly with his Frog and Toad books, which cram so much tenderness and comedy into 60-some pages, most of which contain illustrations. Also an I Can Read book, Owl at Home is just as endearing and just as easy to read, but it's quite different in that there is basically only one character. So we don't have opposite personalities here, just one mild-mannered owl living all alone but trying to occasionally find friendship in the world around him. The book's illustrations are predominantly shades of brown, and we get lots of pictures of Owl puttering about in his pajamas inside his very comfortable home.

In The Guest, Owl politely invites Winter into his house after he hears it knocking on the door. Considerate soul! But not too cunning, and alas, all his kindness backfires on him when Winter proves to be a most ill-tempered houseguest. A very funny story.

Strange Bumps is a hoot too; as with many Lobel characters, Owl seems to be middle-aged but often acts childlike, and here he is pestered by night terrors when he looks down and notices that he is sharing his bed with two mysterious bumps. Whatever could they be? Of course, they turn out to be nothing to be afraid of; they've always been there, and I just find it curious that he never noticed them before. This is a cute story about facing nighttime fears, and children should get the point, even if Owl doesn't quite manage to...

Tear-Water Tea is a strangely melancholy story; Owl decides to brew a cup of tea with his own tears, and in order to do so he thinks of the saddest things he can imagine. The images he conjures are both silly and poignant; the list reminds me of my friend's six-year-old niece, who burst into tears upon remembering that she had dropped a bag of Skittles while staying at a hotel with her dad and they had all rolled away. Most adults wouldn't cry over "spilt milk," something good gone to waste, but there's a deeper sense of appreciation that goes with feeling that loss acutely. I'm especially touched by Owl tearing up over "mornings nobody saw because everybody was sleeping," accompanied by an illustration of the sun rising gloriously over quaint little town, and I know that I would be upset to find that a book I had begun to read could not be finished because there were pages missing. A thought-provoking tale.

Upstairs and Downstairs reminds me of A Walk to Remember, in which one of the dreams of young heroine Jaime was to stand in two states at once. Here, Owl wants to be both upstairs and downstairs, but no matter how quickly he runs, he can't be up and down at the same time, and so he must always be missing one or the other, though since he lives alone, there can't be much happening in either location if he isn't there. Owl's eventual compromise acknowledges the reality of the situation in a satisfactory manner.

Owl and the Moon closes the volume. After an evening at the seashore, Owl is pleased to discover that the moon has risen and seems to be gazing at him. He concludes that they must be very good friends, and he is sorry that they must part, but it's time to go home. What a nice surprise, then, when the moon begins to follow him. But surely such a round fellow can't fit through his door. What is Owl to do? A cute story that reminds me of James Thurber's Many Moons, in which a clever jester finds a way to fulfill the wish of a princess desperate to have the moon brought to her.

Owl is such a sweet character, it's a shame he only appears in this one book. But it is a great comfort to have these five stories to return to on lonely or blustery days. We all could use a little Owl in our homes.