When the opportunity came up to review a DVD of Room On The Broom, I knew that it would get a good reception at The Madhouse because we love the book that it is based on, the 2001 classic by Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler, the same team who brought us The Gruffalo.
If you don't know the story, it's about a friendly witch who invites a dog, a frog and a bird to join her on her broomstick. Her cat is rather disgruntled at the new additions taking up his space on the broom, but he ends up counting his blessings when they help scare away a big, hungry dragon. The witch rewards them all with a broom big enough for everyone to share ! There's a lovely message in there for younger viewers about the importance of friendship.
The DVD features an impressive all-star cast list for the voices, with Simon Pegg narrating and Gillian Anderson as the Witch, Rob Brydon as the Cat, Martin Clunes as the Dog, Sally Hawkins as the Bird, David Walliams as the Frog, and Timothy Spall as the dragon. We all loved their interpretations but it does mean that my efforts at doing the voices at bedtime with the book will be rubbished from now on !
You may have seen this on TV over Christmas (7.6m viewers tuned in for its Christmas premiere on BBC1). It's a lovely animation that the whole family can enjoy together. The Madhouse Mini-testers were a bit disappointed that it's not a feature-length film - it has a runtime of 25 minutes - but this shorter viewing time is ideal for younger children who don't have the attention span necessary for watching a longer film.
The DVD bonus content includes a ‘making of’ documentary, a Julia Donaldson Live Performance and a director’s artwork gallery.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £9.99
More news from Official Room on the Broom website : www.roomonthebroom.com
Studio: Entertainment One
DVD Release Date: 18th March 2013
Run Time: 25 minutes
Disclosure : We received a preview disc in order to write an honest review.
Other reviews you may be interested in :
I love Julia Donaldson books for Jacob, desperately trying to get him the Gruffalo dvd, may need to add this to the list too :)
ReplyDeleteWe love the book - one for the "to get" list ; )
ReplyDeleteWe saw this at christmas and loved it! My son is absolutely mad about the Gruffalo!
ReplyDelete