''Carnivale'' is a 1999 French-Irish

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

film directed by Deane Taylor.

Premise

Four children and their cat find a magic ticket that admits them entry into a magical and mysterious amusement park that at first seems inviting, but grows more sinister once they try to leave.

Cast

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie act ...

as Cenzo * David Antrobus as Jack * Steve Brody as Eddy *

Amanda Abbington Amanda Abbington (born ) is an English actress. In a career spanning over thirty years on stage and screen, her most prominent roles include Josie Mardle in ''Mr Selfridge'' (2013–2016) and Mary Morstan in '' Sherlock'' (2014–2017). Her ot ...

as Ginger *

Ron Haddrick Ronald Norman Haddrick (9 April 1929 – 11 February 2020) was an Australian actor, narrator and South Australian cricketer. In 2012, he received the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for his long and distinguished career in media, span ...

as Banjo *

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...

as Milly Additional voices were performed by Lee Perry, Jamie Oxenbould, Ron Haddrick,

Paul Tylak Paul Tylak is an Irish writer, actor and comedian. Personal life Paul Tylak was born to an Irish mother and Sri Lankan father, and grew up between Ireland and England. He attended the now closed De Burgh School in Tadworth, Surrey. He has li ...

, Olivia Martin, and Lisa Bailey.

Production

The film marked the directorial debut of Deane Taylor who had previously worked as an

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

on films such as ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

'' and ''

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 ''All Dogs Go to Heaven 2'' is a 1996 American animated musical fantasy adventure film, and a sequel to Goldcrest Films' animated film ''All Dogs Go to Heaven'' (1989). Produced by MGM/UA Family Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation ...

''. Production on the film began in June 1997 until it was completed in February 1999. Producer Gerry Shirren had previously worked as a producer on several

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...

films. Taylor had always been fascinated by amusement parks especially with the stark contrast of people who see them as places of fear and fun and wanted to incorporate both of those mindsets into an adventure film for children. Taking inspiration from his work as a theater decorator, Taylor arranged shots in the film as if they were from a child's point of view and coded the lighting so the film began with a bright light source from above while getting progressively darker as the story moves along. For the look of the amusement park itself Taylor based the designs on illustrations of circuses and game galleries from the turn of the century.

Reception

In his review for

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, Paul Power described ''Carnivale'' as a "Well-made debut feature by a former

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

collaborator".

Cancelled video game

In May 1999, it was announced Vatical Entertainment and Terraglyph Interactive Studios had been working on a tie-in video game based on the film to be released on

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

Sony PlayStation is a Video game, video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of Home video game console, home video game consoles produce ...

, and

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

with a playable demo set for that year's E3. After the film failed to find widespread distribution, Vatical ultimately decided to cancel the game as TerraGlyph was beset by development issues that culminated with the company laying off a majority of their workforce leaving the game only 50-60% complete.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0202287, Carnivale 1999 films 1999 animated films 1999 children's films 1999 fantasy films Films scored by Stephen McKeon BAC Films films