Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Urmel aus dem Eis" or "Impy's Island" is a German movie from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year and is based on the possibly most famous story of the Augsburger Puppenkiste. For that one from several decades earlier, it is all about string puppets, but this new take on the story is all about the animation. Okay, it may not be Pixar, but it is pretty decent overall I would say. Same goes for the voice acting. They actually got a few well-known comedians/actors on board here, at least to German audiences. I am talking about Boning, Engelke, Völz, Herbst and Pocher. Oh yeah, and Oscar winner Hans Zimmer worked on the score, so this really shows you that we have a fairly prestigious project here. I believe the original Urmel mini-series became a bit weaker towards the end and this is maybe true here as well with the rescue mission and all. But I believe nonetheless that this was a good watch overall. I see the rating here is not that brilliant, but I guess many people who love the original just gave it a thumbs-down without giving it a chance even. That's a bit pathetic. I personally am not shy to say they did a good job here overall and I liked this even more than the original because this is our generation's approach, the modern take on the subject of the old film that has not aged too well. I guess audiences liked this relatively short film too (comfortable under half an hour and this already includes the ending credits) because they made a sequel that has nothing to do with the original story though. But the sequel is decent too. I would not have minded a third film, but looking at the time that has passed since the second film I guess it is not gonna happen. Back to this first film we have here, it is a thumbs up from me. Voice acting, story-telling and animation are all on a level that I liked. Greatness? No. Goodness? Yes. Probably more appropriate for children than for adults. Go see it with your kids perhaps.
TeeJayKay
No offense to anybody, but I think that it is very hard for anybody who didn’t grow up in Germany in the past forty years to appreciate the impact that this story has had on kids and adults here (Urmel is now the official mascot of Germany’s national ice-hockey team!). This is, after all, the third adaptation of the original book (not counting the 2-D cartoon series) and, I must say (being very skeptical about remakes), a very good one. It was good to see Max Kruse, the author of the book (1969), who is now 86 years old, commenting on the DVD how much he appreciated this version, and I understand why. In many aspects, it has been carefully (!) updated and adapted to current taste, but in other ways it is MORE faithful to the original book than the more famous TV puppet version from the 1960s. And the dialog is so faithful to the book that I could anticipate all the punch lines! Apart from that, I was also surprised (not having read the book or seen the older version for a while) to see how topical the theme still is. I certainly never watched it for its “message” when I was 8 years old, but it has one: It is the old theme of the conservationist (who wants just to preserve nature) vs. the scientist (who wants to analyze and dissect everything) vs. the trophy hunter (who is purely destructive for the sole purpose of achieving personal “glory”). It is in no way subtle – but it is told in a way that children understand. I can tell, because my daughter is now about the same age that I was when I saw it for the first time, and the impact hasn’t changed. And thanks to DVD, we can all watch the 1969 version alongside the new one – I think we have two wonderful version of one wonderful book. And tell your kids to read the book, too (the book is called “Urmal from the Ice Age” in English, “Plodoc” in French).
EclecticActor
I know this film has been dubbed into English (full disclosure- I voice Ping the penguin). Does anyone have any information regarding a USA or UK or other release? No one tells us actors anything... The script I saw was very funny, and I thought there was a moral that adults could appreciate as well as kids. Maybe there was a difference between the English translation and the original? The film reminded me of the Weinstein Co.'s recent release of Little Red Riding Hood which was under-promoted and under-appreciated, being from a smaller studio (ie- not Pixar or BlueSky)- the visuals I saw were amazing, with some of the best physical humor I've seen in any film, animated or live action. I hope more people get to see it!
caste78
I'm not fan of cartoons, but I've had very great times with some animated films such as Cars, Happy feet, Finding nemo etc, but this flick is very bad, the plot has been the worst presented I've ever seen, I had to halt it and watched it another day, really I couldn't stand it. Of course it's a movie for little boys and girls, they could enjoy it because there are nice colourful shots, that's why I graded it 4, but the script is very boring. Most of this genre of movies has a moral, thing that I couldn't find in Urmel Aus dem Eis. Could anybody tell me what kind of message the production wanted to convey with this video? Not a real story, not an interesting plot, not a clear moral. Abstain from watching it, let your kids alone in front of the TV. 2010 I still think that ithis movie was a piece of ...nothing
AD
