La estrella de Belén

"The Star" is an animated story of the first Christmas, with cartoon animals as the main characters. I think it's a good production, and one that may help toddlers and tykes get some inkling of the Christian origin of Christmas. But for most over that age, it probably rings more like an "Ice Age" or "Madagascar" adventure for animals. The humans in this instance do have much bigger parts - especially Joseph and Mary, and a fictitious monster man. So, there always remains a thin thread that leads the animal adventures toward Bethlehem.

Except for the monster creature, the story is mostly accurate in following the Bible story of the birth of Jesus. And, the producers did a fairly good job in the art work of depicting the land and settings realistically. Unfortunately, they transposed 21st century social ways on an ancient setting. So, we have some wisecracks by Joseph at times. And, we see his temper and impatience at times. As for the animals - they have all the modern cultural behaviors and speech. It may be light-hearted fun and funny, but all of this detracts from any sense of awe, reverence or anything special taking place.

The animals talk about the star, but then the mayhem and pursuit of the story picks up again, and the real meaning of the story is subjugated by the comical and adventures of the animals. So, as a cartoon and animated picture, "The Star" is good and entertaining. But for getting the message across of the first Christmas, it misses mostly with the primary audience it might have reached.