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February, 2021:

Got a Snail of Tale to Tell Ya, Lads

Max Lang and Magic Light Pictures made a name for themselves more than ten years ago with an animated adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s picture book The Gruffalo. (Soon after, we and everyone else were talking about the film!) Well nothing breeds success like success, so now Magic Light is back with a new stop-motion/CGI adaptation of the author’s 2003 book The Snail and the Whale. “The film’s remarkably realistic and vibrant animation begins with a tiny peach-colored snail who longs to journey outside the confines of her seaport-adjacent rock home and see the depths of the sea and vastness of the wide world. Writing a note on her rock in glistening snail slime that she’s looking to hitch a ride around the world, the snail is visited by a large humpback whale who offers her a ride on his tail for the adventure of a lifetime. As the snail and the whale encounter warm beachside sunsets, brisk mountain ranges, rainbow reefs as well as dangerous storms and sinister sharks, the snail has an existential awakening about her place in the world and wonders what her purpose could be as a small creature on such a large planet.” Animation World Network has a whole lot more, including previews and a look behind the scenes.

image c. 2021 Magic Light Pictures

Yip Yip, Yip Yip, Yip Yip Yip

It’s nice to see James Kochalka back around — though perhaps in a bit less of an adult vein than the last time we heard from him! Banana Fox #1: The Secret Sour Society is a new full-color graphic novel from Scholastic: “The great detective Banana Fox is called back to duty to find a missing turtle. But the deeper he digs, the more he discovers, and it’s worse than he thought! The Secret Sour Society is back, and they’re mixing up a bunch of trouble. Can Banana Fox and his sidekick, Flashlight, put an end to the Secret Sour Society once and for all?” Find out in hardcover or paperback.

image c. 2021 Scholastic