Review by Neil Davey
Stars Frederick Ashton, Alexander Grant, Wayne Sleep & the stars of The Royal Ballet
UK certification U | UK RRP £22.99 | BD Region B | Runtime 86 minutes | Directed by Reginald Mills
There’s a fine line between charming and twee and, for the most part, this “written-for-the-cinema” balletic interpretation of Beatrix Potter’s animal tales negotiates it well.
The dancing is, of course, impeccable and Sir Frederick Ashton’s choreography is lovely. The problem is it just gets a bit, well, you’re going to hate me for saying it ... boring.
There’s a visceral thrill to seeing ballet live but, put the dancers in elaborate makes and costumes and you remove so much of that.
While the tales here – Jeremy Fisher, Mrs Tiggywinkle, Jemima Puddleduck, Squirrel Nutkin, etc – are all classics of their ilk, and the costumes and settings are certainly sympathetic to Potter’s visions, it just gets a little monotonous.
But hey, this sort of thing has its fans – you know who you are – and you’re going to love the shiny new Blu-ray transfer which, admittedly, looks lovely. No extras though so a RRP of £20 (£16 for the DVD) seems a little bit lumpy to me.
EXTRAS None at all