The King's Beard (2002)

From my favorite movies..

Best movie ever!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Rufus spends all his money to buy a barber shop. He's shocked to find out that nobody cuts their hair just like their King Cuthbert. The King has been cursed by his greedy twin brother Jasper when Cuthbert refused to surrender the throne. The Fairy Wizard can't break the curse to cut the beard. The Wizard's daughter Sophie lost her wand to Jasper's bat minions. Jasper commands the bats to get Sophie as she slowly dies so that her essence can maximize the wand.The story is interesting. The beard idea gives some compelling scenes. I'm not taken with any of main characters. It's trying to be Disney but missing the magic. It's got animal side characters. It just needs more fun in the dialog. The animation is Saturday morning cartoon quality. This is not that bad for little kids.

I honestly love the King's Beard. There was a time when it was played every Christmas but it isn't anymore. Shame really, this is actually really good. My only complaints are that it is too short and I do remember the beginning being a little on the intense side. Everything else though is great, the animation is colourful and nice and the music is lovely. I loved the simplicity of the story and characters, and that both elements were engaging enough for kids and adults. The vocal characterisations are excellent, Jim Broadbent and Colin McFarlane especially do a great job as the Wizard and the villain Jasper. I liked Sophie, she is beautiful and Rufus is very likable. Overall, I like this underrated and almost forgotten treasure. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A great movie. Found this movie on late at night and decided to watch it. I was nicely surprised for once. It's good to see some depth in ideas and symbols being used in a children's movie. They always seem to be a lot more interesting in this context, more light-hearted and full. It seems that the fairy-tale still is fascinating to any age of mind. It would be nice to see an adult film that could lend itself to a source similar to this but it tends to be the case that attempts are a bit lacking in meaning towards any genuine feeling. The animation is not extremely interesting but is not at all distracting; back round is cool but the characters are simple. Everything, including characters, is well thought through and the whole feeling thats set in motion is happy; not Disney happy (good). Some parts are brilliant. I'll definitely be finding a copy of the film for my niece. I wouldn't mind watching it again either. A pleasant surprise for a late night movie watching and doubly great for being a cartoon, always good to see animation.

At the time of this review, it's one of the Kids & Family on-demand movies available through our cable service. My son *LOVES* it. The songs make him giggle, the animation keeps his attention, and even my 80 yr old mother-in-law enjoys it (it has enough "grown up without being 'Mature'" content to be enjoyable by everyone). A cute story with decent animation. And the voicing is very good, too. And hey - Jim Broadbent! How can it be bad? Some of the characterizations aren't too spectacular, and the bats aren't my cup of tea, but that's my opinion. The opening might be considered a bit scary by some, only in that the bat is descending through a very long stairway, a very archetypal image of Returning To The Lair, and he has an evil expression - you know he's a bad guy just from the smarmy/evil-guy face. But overall, we enjoy it at our house, and I'm hoping I can find a copy on DVD either regionless or Region 1, for when it's finished its run through on-demand.