When the young elephant brothers Zef and his little brother Tutu lose their herd to The Badness, Zef spins a fanciful tale to shelter his sibling from the horrible truth of the catastrophe that has befallen their family. Claiming that the lights and noises of approaching poachers and gunshots were a rainbow that took their mother into the sky, Zef encourages Tutu to join him in a quest for the rainbow. Older, and practically minded, Zef sets his sights on finding and joining a new elephant herd; Tutu on the other hand feels a tug on his heart to follow the rainbow and find his family.
Along the way the pachyderms encounter a variety of African animals that have likewise been orphaned by The Badness. A chimpanzee, lion cub and young giraffe join with the brothers on their search for the rainbow, and form an unlikely family in the process. During their journey viewers catch glimpses of the South African landscape, from arid, brush land to stunning waterfalls and green, irrigated gardens.
Elephant Tales is a live action film that consists almost entirely of the animals quest for their lost family members. In the process they interact with each other and occasionally run into humans. Imbued with human voices and emotions the animals ‘talk’ to one another and experience human emotions. The challenges of directing a film with a cast of animals are evident in the range of emotions expressed. The pair of cheetahs who narrate are always rather blank-faced, but are paired with expressive, energetic voices. The giraffe is also less pliable than her elephant and chimp colleagues, and is given a slightly snobby, standoffish personality.
On the other hand the dramatic scenes of melancholic elephant grief were enough to break my two-year-old daughter’s heart. If your child is experiencing separation anxiety that seems to set in between two and three years of age, this may be a film you’d like to pass on. The themes of loss and longing are prominent throughout, though the conclusion is satisfying. Elephant Tales deals gently with the facts of elephant poaching in Africa that have led to high numbers of orphaned calves. The act itself is never portrayed but only intimated by gunshots and missing parents.
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