User A story that tells that being totally stupid is OK.Rating for the US release of this movie ("Doogal" - 2.8) reflects my opinion: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763304/?ref_=tt_rec_ttA lazy stupid gluttonous dog, a lazy junkie rabbit, a lazy opera singing cow with huge ego, snail (he's the OK one) and a not so magic train are on a mission to save the world from a powerful evil wizard. Despite all his powers, the evil wizard cannot stop the unfriendly bunch. I give it a 3 only because of the style and quality of the animations, but I'll never let my daughter watch it.

Stompgal_87 I have fond memories of watching the original 1960s - 1970s stop-motion series on VHS at my grandparents' house when I was a child and I remember my nan telling me about my dad and other children trying to get home from school in time for the programme. When I heard there was going to be a full-length CGI film based on the show with Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue (both of whom had already duetted on their 2000 single 'Kids') providing the voices of Dougal and Florence respectively, I was certainly up for seeing it because it came out before the time CGI completely ruined my childhood favourites such as 'Thomas the Tank Engine,' 'Noddy's Adventures in Toyland' and 'Bananas in Pyjamas.' I saw this film at the cinema with a family aide and we quite enjoyed it although I found some aspects a little disappointing, such as the lack of screen time for Florence due to her entrapment on the frozen roundabout. Other weaknesses of this film were Florence looking different from how she did in the stop-motion show, the pacing being somewhat slow and the plot consisting of drawn-out filler.The positives surpass these negatives. The positives include the animation being fluid on the whole despite the jerky movements on the blue mousse towards the end; most of the characters staying true to the style of those from the original series albeit the detailed lip sync, expressions and facial features; the backgrounds having more colour and definition than those in the original series; the basic premise of Brian, Ermintrude, Dylan and Dougal going on a quest to retrieve diamonds in order to get the roundabout to work again; the dialogue having its witty moments; the voice cast and the soundtrack. With regard to the soundtrack, the incidental music was epic and cinematic for the film's nature and I liked the songs, especially Electric Light Orchestra's 'Mr Blue Sky' and Ermintrude's hilarious operatic singing along to it.Overall, 'The Magic Roundabout' has its weaknesses but its strengths more than made up for them, it brought back significant memories of the original show and I'll definitely be steering clear of 'Doogal (what a stupid way to spell his name!)' because I despise it when British voices are dubbed with American ones and this has already happened to 'Spot the Dog' as witnessed on YouTube once. 7/10.

howard-dickins OK, I loved it, and yet I was (slightly) disappointed too. Tom Baker voicing the part of the villainous Zeebad was absolute genius. His crazed, maniacal lines were wonderful. And Dylan was brilliant too - Bill Nighy was just the right choice. But I missed Dougal's cynical, world-weary quips from the original Magic Roundabout. And Ermintrude was disappointing too.The animation is certainly very good, although again I missed the original 'cardboard cutout' feel of the garden backdrops. (It was very good, but just not like the original!) I'm glad they kept the train the same! The 70's soundtrack was very welcome. It's not entirely obvious what music would work well, but I think they got that right.Generally, the original show's short format is not an easy task to expand upon, and I think they did pretty well really.

xshadowhawkx My friends dragged me to see this with them for a joke. The cinema was full of kids and I was really embarrassed! But I definitely don't regret seeing it.The plot was, unfortunately, the weakest part of the movie. It was just so Saturday-morning-cartoonish (complete with evil twins, magic diamonds and walking skeletons) that anyone in the cinema over the age of nine is unlikely to be interested. But anyone under that age will be delighted from start to finish.It's the cast and music that really did it for me. Robbie Williams, despite his complete lack of experience as an actor, pulls off his role as Dougal with natural skill and emotion, which is pleasantly surprising. Jim Broadbent and Joanna Lumley seem to have great fun in their roles (as Brian the snail and Ermintrude the cow respectively) and Bill Nighy, well, lets just say there's no one else in the world who could've done Dylan the drug-addled bunny like he did ("no way man! I'm in, like, a higher state of unconsciousness..."). Kylie Minogue did well enough, but she only has about three lines. Tom Baker and Sir Ian Mackellen also seemed to enjoy giving very camp performances as the arch rival jack-in-the-boxes Zebedee and Zeebad (though Sir Ian sounded a little too much like Gandalf). The music, which seems to include vocal performances from Kylie and Robbie, is fantastic and well above average for a kids film today. If you've seen the film, I think you'll agree the soundtrack is a must-buy! But still, it's not all great. The plot is full of gaping holes, and while it mostly works with a very young audience in mind, the jokes aimed at adults are not laugh-out-loud funny, they just raise a knowing smile. There are some rather strange movie references too. It features references to Pulp Fiction, LoTR, and The Matrix (courtesy of some unexpected kung-fu fighting on Dylan's part) and I'll be damned if I saw a Dragon Ball Z reference in there! (Watch the scene where Zebad fights Zebedee for the first time - then again maybe it was just cheesy...) I never saw enough of the original 5 minute episodes to be a fan, but really, it seems very different from the original, so old-time fans may be disappointed, or maybe they'll appreciate seeing their old favourites in some new action-packed situations. It's up to them.Yes, it falls flat in MANY places, but it's also got a childish, endearing charm that may make you wish you were seven again.