A fun, heartwarming and spiritual tale for the entire family! For parents or grandparents who grew up reading best-selling children’s classic, “The Littlest Angel”, the animated film adaptation is just as heartwarming as the book and definitely worth sharing with your children or grandchildren. Recommended!
© 2011 Portsmouth Pictures LLC. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: The Littlest Angel
DURATION: 83 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital 5.1, English Subtitles for Deaf and Hearing Impaired, Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78:1
COMPANY: Anchor Bay Entertainment
RATED: G
RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2011
Directed by Dave Kim
Screenplay and Story by Sean Catherine Derek, Sean Roche
Story by Dave Kim
Based on the Book by Charles Tazewell
Produced by Dave Kim
Co-Producer: Rex Piano
Executive Producer: Lance Thompson, Seth Willenson
Associate Producer: Lucas Thompson
Music by Corey A. Jackson
Edited by Dave Kim
Production Design by Don W. Kim
Featuring the voices of:
Ed Kelly as Halo/Alban/Logan/Mr. Creepedeep/Strongman
Nina Kircher as Mrs. Creepedeep/Ox
Clarity Newhouse as Angel Eve
Ron Perlman as God
Caleb Wolf as Littlest Angel
The Littlest Angel tells the story of a young boy who arrives in heaven before his time. Home-sick and lonely, he will travel back to earth, with his friendly pup Halo, to retrieve a most selfless and precious gift for The Baby Jesus. First released in book form in 1946, The Littlest Angel became popular for its ornate words and phrases paired with beautifully muted oil paintings. Tazewell’s book was adapted into a TV musical in 1969 starring Johnny Whitaker, and theatrical versions continue to be done by schools and church groups today. The author would follow-up with another childhood favorite, “The Littlest Snowman,” that would be read annually on the “Captain Kangaroo†show.
“This is a story that has made so many people happy over the years,†says Lance Thompson, one of the producers of the film. “We’ve added some new elements to this production, but this is still The Littlest Angel everyone remembers from their childhood, and one that parents will enjoy introducing to their kids. I think Tazewell would enjoy knowing his work lives on.â€
It’s a modern twist on the timeless tale of an Angel that discovers the greatest gifts in life are faith, friendship and doing the right thing. This new version of The Littlest Angel features wonderful animation and great vocal talent, including Ron Perlman (“Beauty and The Beast,†Tangled), and is sure to become a holiday favorite, much like the book it’s based on. The Littlest Angel is a motion picture that will put a smile on everyone’s face, and what better gift is there than that.
Visual and digital effects artist Dave Kim is known for his 3D work on films such as “2012”, “The Golden Compass”, “Australia” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and now the artist takes on his latest challenge as director, co-writer and producer of the spiritual children’s animated film “The Littlest Angel”.
Based on the 15th best-selling children’s book of all time by Charles Tazewell and created back in 1946, the book has entertained generations of children and now Dave Kim gives “The Littlest Angel” the CG treatment via an animated film adaptation that will entertain families and children, especially with the holiday season just around the corner.
“The Littlest Angel” revolves around a boy known as The Littlest Angel who is trying to get used to being an angel. He is currently enrolled at the angel academy where children train in order to get their wings to become a full-fledged angel.
But for the Littlest Angel, he tends to get in a bit of trouble, mainly because he misses his life on Earth. Misses his dog and the fun he used to have. But he also misses his most beloved belongings which he has kept inside a box that is buried near the home he once lived in. The Littlest Angel believes that he won’t miss Earth so much if he had his treasures.
Not to say that Heaven is not fun, it’s just that angels and animals are separated in the kingdom of Heaven because animals are not kept as pets, they live in freedom. And the Littlest Angel loves playing with animals. But because he needs to make his own fun, he ends up causing a bit of destruction and gets in trouble.
But his teacher Alban has had enough of the troubles that the Littlest Angel has created and so he is sent to meet with Angel Eve in where he is told that before he can play with the animals heaven, he must first dedicate himself to his angel training at the angel academy.
But before he returns back to training, Angel Eve teaches the Littlest Angel about how to use a halo but also takes him to a land where the angel animals live.
When the Littlest Angel hears a conversation between Alban and the muscular angel Logan, he comes up with a plan to borrow wings to fly and plans to go back to Earth in order to retrieve the box of treasures.
He manages to get some help by the dog named Halo who wants to help the Littlest Angel get his treasure and both go to Earth quickly to retrieve it.
But unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Creepedeep end up taking the Littlest Angel’s treasure and when they find out that Halo can talk and that both Halo and the Littles Angel are real angels, they want to capture them in order to make money.
Meanwhile, back in Heaven, Alban finds out that God is coming to visit and immediately, all angels must give a gift for the upcoming birth of God’s son and everything must be perfect. But when Alban finds out that the Littlest Angel is missing and learns that he has been captured on Earth, he and Logan must rescue the Littlest Angel on Earth before God arrives.
But will they be able to save him in time?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Littlest Angel” is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (1:78:1) and presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Animation is done by Portsmouth Pictures and Cinepix Animation and for the most part, the film is a CG animated film. It may not be as detailed or very expensive compared to a Disney/Pixar animated film or big-budget Hollywood film but because the target demographic for this film is for families and children, overall, the CG animation is good, especially knowing that the creators were working on a quick and tight schedule. This is not a multi-million dollar project but for what they accomplished, I was quite pleased with the overall look of the film.
Colors are vibrant, shading is well-done, good amount of detail in some areas of the film. The DVD does showcase some banding but its what is expected from a DVD release.
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, dialogue and music is clear and understandable. Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Littlest Angel” comes with the following special feature:
- Pure Michigan Promo -Â (7:57) A featurette about Michigan’s film industry and “The Littlest Angel” director and producer Dave Kim and co-producer Rex Piano talks about the film industry and what they enjoyed about working in Michigan.
EXTRAS:
“The Littlest Angel” comes with a slipcover case.
“The Littlest Angel” is a heartwarming tale that is spiritual and fun!
There are not many Christian-based animated films out there (aside from the popular “Veggie Tales” series) but I have to say that I was quite pleased by the “The Littlest Angel” because it was a pure film.
At first, “The Littlest Angel” is shown to be a child that tends to get into trouble, but he means well, it’s just that he misses his old life on Earth. There is no discussion about how the character died and went to heaven, what we do know is that his favorite treasures which he buried as a child is what he desires the most. It’s all he needs to remember Earth while he is in Heaven.
And the character is shown as a child who does make some bad decisions but through those decisions, he learns from them.
It’s a straightforward tale that is easily accessible for children and even adults. And while the film does involve angels and God, it’s not a film that tries to preach any type of religion towards the viewer. If anything, the story is about a young naive angel who gets into trouble when he goes to Earth. In some way, I guess a film that I can easily compared it to is “Finding Nemo”, in which Nemo finds himself in trouble and his father must go to find him, with “The Littlest Angel”, we have angels Alban and Logan going after the Littlest Angel and trying to bring him back home before God shows up for the celebration.
As for the voice acting, I have to give credit to Ed Kelly who did a lot of the voices for the film. From Alban, Logan, Halo the dog, Mr. Creepedeep and Strongman, he did a great job in playing the multiple roles. And of course, Caleb Wolf who provides the voice of the Littlest Angel, he also did a great job! And of course, you have the talented Ron Perlman (“Hellbody”, “Sons of Anarchy” and voice actor for “Tangled”, “SpongeBob Square Pants”) providing the voice of God.
Also, interesting was the special feature promoting the film industry in Michigan. Dave Kim and Ron Piano chose to create the film in Michigan and not surprising as we are seeing more films shot in the state such as the Richard Gere film “The Double” and Drew Barrymore’s “Whip It”.
I wish there was special features on the making of “The Littlest Angel” or even the voice talent of the film. But other than that, for a family film, “The Littlest Angel” was quite fun to watch. And sure the CG is not going to be hyper-detailed or cost multi-millions to make like a Disney/Pixar, FOX animation or Dreamworks Animation film but still, for the demographic that this film is for and the cute and innocent characters that are featured, I actually enjoyed this heartwarming family film.
Overall, if you grew up reading the book and have a young child in your family that you want to share this classic story with ala an animated film, “The Littlest Angel” is worth watching!
Recommended!
