I have to disagree with the first 3 reviewers of this film about most what they have said about this film, I found this short film to be very charming with great cinematography by Stephen Murphy, with wonderful sets and locations for a film made for only £25,000, The script was quite good but I felt that it needed a stronger ending, The Director although not getting the best from the actors has made his film to have style and flow, with some scenes having a really nice fantasy feel to them, I also liked the fact that there was narration used throughout the film, some people have criticized this but those same people would not criticize narration when used in films like Harry Potter, I felt it was totally right for this film as we are talking about a story about books reading and storytelling, also the film is a short, so narration is also a great way to get in more story than there is time for, I also thought that the music was just right 90% of the time and for one reviewer to say it was silly is incredible to me as it was non-intrusive and complimentary to the action. Now on to the actors, The young girl had lots of charm but lacked a little in the emotional scenes, when she ran to her grandmother, this fell flat for me,also no reaction of wonder when she opened the book of butterflies. Mr and Mrs Libby could have been a lot more comical and eccentric for me, but I fear the acting talent would not allow for this, The old lady Mrs Pepercorn played by Margerat Jackman played her part with a lot of dignity and grace and overall it was a pleasant character. The narration by Penny Ryder I thought was very well done, a gentle motherly feel to it which was very enjoyable. As far as the girl being left on her own after dark has a slight awkwardness attached to it but please remember this is a fantasy and again we did not moan about the small children in the Harry Potters first film being left many times in the dark and in peril, so I say again this is a fantasy film, not reality. The effects were a mixed bag, The opening titles were done with great style with a nice magical quality to the font and way they were camera tracked to the street scene, the animations flying and twirling out of the book were I felt slightly detached from the library scene, The animations over the last Mrs Peppercorn shot of moving books and movement on the walls was delightful. Overall this short film of 25 mins is an incredible achievement for the budget that they had to work with and everyone involved should be proud of their film.
