''The Magician's Elephant'' is a 2023 animated

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by Wendy Rogers, written by Martin Hynes and produced by Julia Pistor. Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by

Kate DiCamillo Katrina Elizabeth DiCamillo (born March 25, 1964) is an American children's fiction author. She has published over 25 novels, including ''Because of Winn-Dixie'', '' The Tiger Rising'', ''The Tale of Despereaux'', ''The Miraculous Journey ...

, the film features the voices of

Noah Jupe Noah Jupe (born ) is a British actor. He is known for his roles in the television series ''The Night Manager'' (2016); the dark comedy film ''Suburbicon'' (2017); the drama film ''Wonder'' (2017); the horror film ''A Quiet Place'' (2018) and its ...

Mandy Patinkin Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...

Natasia Demetriou Natasia Charlotte Demetriou is an English comedian, actress, and screenwriter. She is best known for her roles as Nadja in the FX horror comedy series ''What We Do in the Shadows'' (2019–present) and Sophie in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Stath Le ...

Benedict Wong Benedict Wong (born 3 July 1971) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Kublai Khan in Netflix's ''Marco Polo'' (2014–2016), Bruce Ng in '' The Martian'' (2015), and Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since ''Doctor Strange'' (2 ...

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for ''Damage'' (1992) and ''Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

and

Aasif Mandvi Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...

. Animated by

Animal Logic Animal Logic is an Australian animation and visual effects digital studio based at Disney Studios in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, Vancouver in Canada, and Rideback Ranch in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1991, Animal Logic has ...

, the film was distributed by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

and released on March 17, 2023.

Premise

Peter is searching for his long-lost sister Adele. A fortune teller tells him to find a magician with an elephant.

Voice cast

Production

On August 17, 2009,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

announced that Martin Hynes would adapt a novel titled ''The Magician's Elephant'', which was yet to be released, into a feature film. In that same announcement, former

Nickelodeon Movies Nickelodeon Movies is the film production arm of American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures launched on February 25, 1995 and based in Los Angeles, California. The division has earned n ...

producer Julia Pistor was also confirmed as the producer of the film. On December 15, 2020, after languishing into

development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...

for a number of years, it was announced that Pistor had taken the property to

who acquired the film rights to the book and screenplay to develop the animated feature film, with

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

working on the animation. In the same announcement,

Pixie Davies Pixie Love Davies (born 9 December 2006) is an English actress. Born and raised in England, she began her career in 2012, starring in the BBC's ''The Secret of Crickley Hall''. After making her film debut in '' Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger' ...

Sian Clifford Sian Clifford (born 7 April 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Claire, the older sister of the titular character in the BBC comedy-drama series ''Fleabag'' (2016–2019) and also portrayed Martha Crawley in the ITV/Amazo ...

Brian Tyree Henry Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outsta ...

, and

Kirby Howell-Baptiste Kirby Howell-Baptiste (born 7 February 1987) is a British actress. She has appeared as a series regular on ''Downward Dog'' (2017), '' Killing Eve'' (2018), '' Why Women Kill'' (2019), and '' The Sandman'' (2022). Her television appearances also ...

were all cast to star in the film.

Release

''The Magician's Elephant'' was released on March 17, 2023.

Reception

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magician's Elephant 2023 computer-animated films 2023 films 2020s children's animated films Films based on American novels English-language Netflix original films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated fantasy films Animated films based on American novels Australian animated feature films Australian computer-animated films Australian children's animated films Animated films about orphans Films about magic and magicians Films scored by Mark Mothersbaugh Animated films about elephants Animated films about magic Animal Logic films