It’s nearly half term which can only mean two things 1) exhausted, highly strung children and 2) the release of loads of new children’s films, just in time for the holidays! We can talk about the highly exhausted kids in another post, this one is all about my furry and winged friends.
Princess and I were lucky enough to watch the advance screening of Oddball and the Penguins a couple of weeks ago at a special private screening in London. The film is set in New Zealand and had a real small town vibe to it. In a way, that comment is a bit of a double edged sword. I liked that it focussed on a small community and in a way had a vanilla, soap opera feel to it, but on the other hand it also felt as if it had been shot by a small community college team. Indie, I guess that’s the phrase that springs to mind, but more in terms of something that looks it was shot on a relatively small budget as opposed to out of the box thinking that you expect from indie films. .I’m over thinking though. No six year old would have these thoughts running through their minds whilst watching this!!
It could just be that some of it was lost in translation, (culturally, not language wise – it’s in English!) but all in all the story line was sound and it was a really lovely way to spend a couple of hours family time. I mean, there are tiny penguins and gorgeous Maremma sheepdogs involved, it’s cuteness overload, regardless of whether the humans involved were a little ‘meh’ a times.
The story
Off the coast from the small town of Warrnambool lies Middle Island, a sanctuary once home to thousands of the world’s smallest penguins. But since foxes learned to cross the shallow channel to the island, penguin numbers have plunged. And if they fall below ten, park ranger Emily Marsh will be out of a job. This shocks her father, eccentric chicken farmer Swampy Marsh. His wife ran the sanctuary, but when she passed away, Emily stepped in, while Swampy retreated to his farm. Emily’s nine-year-old daughter Olivia is the glue that keeps the family together.
And at the centre of everything is Oddball, Swampy’s rambunctious Maremma sheepdog. After Oddball goes on an off-leash run that nearly destroys Main Street, tensions rise. If the sanctuary closes, Emily plans to take Olivia and move away with Bradley, an American tourism consultant. So now Swampy might lose his daughter and granddaughter as well.
The solution comes when Swampy rescues an injured penguin from the island and discovers to his amazement that Oddball – who can’t bring himself to guard chickens – is an expert at guarding penguins. With two weeks until the final penguin count, Swampy and Olivia devise a crazy plan – train the rambunctious and unpredictable Oddball to protect the penguins and save the sanctuary, while somehow keeping the operation a secret from everyone.
Will Emily discover the truth? What about the suspicious Dogcatcher? And who is the shadowy person trying to make sure the sanctuary closes?
What follows is a rousing adventure as Oddball, Swampy and Olivia manage to save the penguin preserve, their family and the town itself
Princess with a real Maremma Sheepdog
See on paper it reads well. Your kids will enjoy it and you’ll probably grin and roll your eyes at some of the slapstick moments too. As far as half term film fodder goes, it’s a safe bet and would be suitable for kids of all age ranges, especially those into animals and conservation.
If you go and watch it, let me know what you and your kids think!
