Review of The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix

Norway's little kids film must have been a classic of its kind with its delightful puppet animations and humor. Here in the States, it's a bit of a different story. This was released in '81 by a now-unknown kids movie releasing company called G.G. Communications under the title PINCHCLIFFE GRAND PRIX. It's been long out of print on U.S. home video for 17 years! (Video Gems was the distributor). I almost lost the whole thing because the tape got scrunched at the beginning! So was I impressed? Sort of. The racing bits looked real neat for a production that used the same techniques Rankin-Bass were known for in their X-mas specials. Character names are different here as well. My concern of this film is that it's hard to take real seriously. Americans are more tempted with highly upbeat comedy than what I've experienced here, although we do like the animation (A BUG'S LIFE is an exception). It's not so bad at all, but it just isn't any different from what I've seen before. Since it has something to do with racing, this may be a good film for the little kiddies to enjoy. Remember, this one is sooooo hard to find on U.S. video, and you've heard it right here!