Friday Film Review | The Velveteen Rabbit
I thought I'd start a thing for some select Friday's where I review a film I have watched recently. This weeks review: The Velveteen Rabbit (2009)
Now if you don't want any plot spoilers, go no further than this except to watch the trailer below:
I was forced to watch this recently after my mum and sister said I needed to understand and share the pain they experienced watching it. Let me tell you I did not. I was out of action for an hour afterwards, I couldn't move for being so sad.
So here we go. A beloved family tale, The Velveteen Rabbit was originally written in 1922 by Margery Williams as a children's book; it tells the story of a sensitive young boy, Toby, and his toy rabbit who go on an adventure. One day after he arrives at his grandmother's house for Christmas, Toby is mocked and humiliated by other boys because he can't throw a ball properly. He gets back to his grandmother's house and discovers a "magic attic".
The attic is the home to some forgotten toys (Horse and Swan) who believe they weren't loved enough by their owners to become "real". When in the attic, Toby finds a toy rabbit - a present that his mother had left for him before she died. One day he is bullied by some boys and he goes back to the attic to cry, and when his tears fall onto Rabbit it him to life in animation.
From here the film switches between the real world and his animated, fantasy world of which Toby begins to prefer as he spends more time with Rabbit, Horse and Swan. This causes problems, when Toby contracts scarlet fever, and his wish to leave the real world and stay in the animated world start to become true. It is then that the toys realise it is not "love", but "loving" that makes us real.
Obviously there's more to the story than what I've just stated, but I didn't want to reveal everything otherwise you wouldn't watch the film. It's meant for children and families, but as a soon-to-be 21 year-old, it really tugged on my heart strings. Little did I know that it would reduce me to seven tissues that were filled with the remnants of my broken heart - so I urge you to think about your decision to watch this film very carefully (do it do it do it...). It has you wailing.
It's not just me though, I promise! Straight after I'd recovered from my tidal wave of tears, I checked Twitter, Tumblr, the internet in general - anything - for what people's reactions to the story were. Many comments were along the lines of "Lovely movie, love the animation, but so sad" or "Great movie and we loved it, but my emotional six year-old daughter/son cried for an hour afterwards" (the genders stated here are an observation of the comments, not me personally excluding all other genders).
Moving on to the DVD cover, it's really sweet looking, with the tagline "All you need to do is believe" really summarising the film. It's wrapped up like a Christmas present and features all the primary characters in their real and animated world; Rabbit, Toby, Horse and Swan as well as Toby's grandmother (not animated). Turn to the back and we see Toby's father, but miss lovable driver Henry, so shoutout. They always adds that bit of warmth to a good film don't you think... Henry from The Velveteen Rabbit, Joe from The Princess Diaries... Classics.
ANYway, in terms of themes, if you're a parent you might want to consider the ones that are tackled in the film before watching it with your children - just another trend I picked up from reading comments from other parents. The film covers areas such as death, potential bullying and loneliness and there are some scenes which may need explaining to young children in terms of the concept. There is an intense scene towards the end involving a fire which was actually fairly scary to me, and the young boys mother appears to Toby in the fantasy world, and after she has to leave on the carousel he is left screaming and crying for her to come back. It's so so sad that I even let out an audible scream myself. So basically the warning is that some children could be left distressed or momentarily traumatised by some scenes.
While feedback for the film was generally good, some comments did show that viewers thought the film lacked excitement. They said there was too much sadness and had inappropriate content for children, which is why I included the paragraph above. Others just poured their hearts out for their love of Rabbit (he is really cute). I also noticed that a lot of people praised the messages portrayed throughout the film.
Overall, I'd give it a solid 8/10. It's heartwarming, heartbreaking and a great family film. I would definitely watch it again, but maybe in like 5 years when my heart has finally recovered.
What do you think? What rating would you give Velveteen?
