Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15700 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-07-18
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 78 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Magic Roundabout is another in a long list of 1960’s and 1970’s television shows updated and adapted for the big screen. The original show has since become a cult favourite due to its hallucinatory double-entendres, and the powers that be realised that the fans of the television series now had children of their own. Therefore, the film version of The Magic Roundabout attempts to strike a balance between appealing to both children and their parents. To that end, they’ve recruited a whole host of celebrities to provide voices: Robbie Williams as Dougal the dog, Kylie Minogue as Florence, Tom Baker as the evil Zeebad and Ian McKellen as Zebedee, amongst others. The story involves Dougal accidentally releasing Zeebad from prison, then joining up with his friends to save the day--ideal good-versus-bad kid’s entertainment. The DVD release has two different versions. The single disc version includes character profiles, a quiz and a look at the UK premiere of the film. The two-disc version, meanwhile, also has behind the scenes documentaries and, best of all, some classic black & white episodes of the original series--the perfect piece of nostalgia to entertain the parents. --Ted Kord

Synopsis
The world is placed in mortal danger when Dougal accidentally releases Zeebad from prison. Together with Ermintrude, Brian and Dylan, Dougal sets off on a quest to discover three magic diamonds, and thus prevent the evil Zeebad from encasing the world in ice...

Customer Reviews

Fabulous
This film is fabulous. My 8, 5 and 3 year old love it. It has us dancing around the living room with the wonderful music (and I'm not a Kylie or Robbie fan) and the story really keeps the childrens attention. It's not as entertaining on the level of something like Monsters Inc for the adults but trust me the children will love it.
It was on a loop continuosly for days when we first got it and even now the children watch it and I am dragged around for an obilgatory dance.
Tom Baker is wonderful in it, Robbie isn't bad but Lee Evans is underutilised. The rest of the cast is brilliant too - Bill Nighy etc - real talent.
I was wonderfully surprised by this film. It isn't anything like the cartoon I remember from my childhood but I don't find that a problem.
Well worth buying.

The soundtrack is called 'Doogal' and available on Amazon too.

It's magic you know....

If you have any doubts, listen to the laughing children!
I took my little boy to see this for his third birthday treat. Initially I prepared to switch off and day dream while he watched it but I was quite surprised. There are some genuinely funny moments, mostly courtesy of Bill Nighy. It's quite sweet and charming, although I suspect that those folk who loved the original will dislike this effort and justifiably too, as it isn't a patch on that. However, children will love it and their laughter was infectious enough for me to actually pay attention and enjoy this film.

Cynical commercially exploitative trash displaying a cold indifference to its subject matter
Okay, fair enough, I can't comment on the good sounding extras in the package, as I haven't bought it, nor will I. However they surely cannot make amends for a truly crass rehash the film was, which barely resembled the enchanting animated series I saw as a kid. Believe me, it wasn't the first time I've walked out of the picture house in abject disgust, but this was one of the most disgusting in memory. I really wanted to ask for my money back, but I just had an overwhelming feeling of being made a fool of, and knew I should just skulk my way back home. This joke of a film version was not made by people who had any love for the original series, or even any love for animation, as that was all computer generated stuff, and very, very poor. The writers (yes, there's always more than one for this kind of dross) should have been exiled in shame.
To prove it can be done, I once had on video, but lost long ago, a film remake they did not long after the series ended, called Dougal and the Mystery of the Blue Cat: Excellent film version that looked and sounded like the real thing.