The Fox and The Child

If The Fox And The Child could be rated on visuals alone it would be the easiest five stars this reviewer could ever give. From the team who brought you March Of The Penguins, this sweet tale follows a young unnamed girl (Noel-Bruneau) and her adventures with a vixen. At first, the fox is cautious but over time the girl becomes trusted and is introduced to her family of cubs. However, the girl must learn that foxes fear humans for a reason and the two can never be truly friends. With dialogue at the bare minimum (Winslet's narration used only sporadically), the visuals need to be something special and thankfully they are what set the movie apart from a run-of-the-mill David Attenborough documentary. Jacquet shoots the forest where the 'action' takes place with more magic and wonder than most sci-fi movies; although the forest is teeming with so much wildlife - the usual suspects have the added company of boars, wolves, bears and snow leopards - it's almost like that Simpsons parody. The barely-there plot is the letdown, however, and this Disney-esque adventure more suitable to a wet afternoon DVD scenario that a cinema outing.