Magic Beach brings to life Alison Lester's classic children's book of the same name to the silver screen. Through a mix of live-action and animated segments from leading Australian animators, the film offers a dreamy landscape of different whimsical visions and stories meant to captivate children and family members of all ages.
A Treasure Trove of Animation. Magic Beach's main draw is its animation segments, inspired by different characters and moments from the original story. There are more than a handful of these, each with their own team of creatives and animators telling a unique story with distinct styles and voices. When taken individually, each short is simply wonderful. These different segments offer a captivating variety of animation that shines in their own respective mediums, and there's something different to behold across all the vignettes on offer. In some segments, one can enjoy the distinct humor or sense of whimsy in the vibrant colors and exaggerated shapes filling the screen. In other segments, one can enjoy the distinct detail of the chosen mediums, each brush stroke of paint or bump and rumple on clay models really adding a sense of texture and personality to the visuals. In other segments, one can still be mesmerized by the experimental styles and visuals on display, which create and explore hypnotic, otherworldly atmospheres in the lines and shapes of the natural world rather than telling a conventional narrative. All taken separately, each segment shines in its own unique ways, and the film serves as a fantastic showcase of all the different possibilities and mediums Australian animators are using today.
Putting it Together (And Falling Apart). However, given the nature of the film being more of an anthology piece, the film can't quite escape feeling uneven. This would have probably been excusable, but the film fumbles in its attempt to bring the film into a reasonable whole. Across the animated segments, the film has live-action sequences that serve as a framing device to tie everything together, but it is clear that these moments are simply there to pad the film and get its runtime to about 80 minutes. All these sequences follow the same base formula: One of the kids will encounter the actual Magic Beach children's book, fall asleep to it as a lullaby or bedtime story, enter into the titular Magic Beach, and then to the animated segments. With each live-action segment being essentially the same, this gives the film's structure a deep sense of predictability, and even by the second time the live-action appears, it feels like the film has to pause its momentum just to get through the framing device. The lack of any plot in these segments makes the overall experience feel shapeless, lacking a concrete narrative or message to tie the varying animation. Worse still, the live-action segments become repetitive. Ultimately, these live-action segments attempt to remind the audience of the book's legacy without actually examining the words and story that made the book so beloved in the first place. In these moments, the film constantly tells us that this book is a classic and is a magical bedtime story for all ages, without actually addressing why, waiting for and wasting time to let the animation do all the heavy lifting.
A Film Meant for Everyone? The live-action segments also reveal a lack of clear direction for the film. One can't help but wonder if the intended audience for the film, being young children, would find any of it interesting. It becomes very unclear who the film is intended for. These live-action segments feel more akin to an experimental drama or piece of contemplative slow cinema rather than a children's film, and it feels dull given the rest of the magical setting that the animation presents. Young children will probably get bored by the more experimental elements and animation and the lack of any compelling plot or character. Older audiences who can be more appreciative of unconventional narratives and animation might expect something more juvenile, especially given the nature of the original children's book. In an attempt to cater to different audiences, both mainstream and arthouse audiences, the film ends up feeling like it appeals to no one in particular.
Though it features a wonderful variety of different animation styles and distinct voices, Magic Beach buries these treasures in the quicksand of its uninspired, uneven attempt at its framing narrative.
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