Spoilers Alert:
The Danish animated film MINA AND THE DREAM WIZARDS Surprisingly proves to be a high-quality alternative to Disney, Pixar and Co. and clearly evokes similarities to the family film hit “Everything is Inside Out”. We’ll reveal in our review why this is an accolade.
But her stepsister Jenny stands between her and harmony.
“Mina and the Dream Magicians” was produced and financed entirely with Danish funds. In this country, the medium-sized film distributor Splendid took over the distribution channel via the cinemas, where the film will be shown directly when it reopens. Of course, from a purely financial perspective, this has nothing to do with a big-budget company like Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and Co. And yet the film doesn’t need to hide from the competition visually either. Those responsible are even making use of their budget limits: Instead of plastering the 80 minutes of film with details and excess (and possibly reaching the limits of the trick technique), “Mina and the Dream Magicians” has a cleanly thought-out, simple concept: the dream stages of every dreamer are reminiscent of theater structures, including backdrops made of wood and cardboard. They are all connected by a network of railway tracks, which enables the friendly blue dream men to travel back and forth between the dreamers they are supervising. The background, on the other hand, is exclusively dark blue. The scenes in the waking state are bursting with color diversity and also have a high cuteness factor. Caused entirely by hamster sidekick Viggo Mortensen, who soon turns out to be a secret highlight in a film that isn’t exactly lacking in highlights.
Conclusion: A modern yet classic adventure film about dreams and family – without any classic family model. The hot Disney and Pixar competition in the animated family film segment clearly comes from Denmark!
“Mina and the Dream Magicians” will be shown when cinemas reopen in United Kingdom.
