A MINUSCULE ADVENTURE
★★★★★
BUZZING with charm and humour, this wonderfully inventive and engaging animation is a fun-packed family treat combining action, romance and a strong eco theme.
A standalone companion to 2013’s award-winning adventure Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants, this uses the same technique of seamlessly mixing real-life locations and people with animated insects.
When a pair of ladybirds inadvertently undergo a perilous trip from their French Alpine home to the Caribbean, a spider and an ant team up to rescue them.
Storms, sharks and Venus flytraps are among the dangers, but rather than being scary, the musical accompaniment gives the action the feel of a 1930s’ cliffhanger serial.
The creatures communicate with appealing whistles and raspberries, and the absence of dialogue adds to the feeling of old-fashioned fun. The emphasis on the need for cooperation across cultural borders offers a timely message too. on the work of lifelong racing fan Dr Stephen Olvey.
Olvey went from being a medical student trackside volunteer to kick-starting the drive to collecting data which became instrumental in improving car safety.
But he faced an uphill struggle because each new safety feature involved a financial cost and a “performance penalty” – they led to heavier and therefore slower cars.
Interviews with engineers and promoters are noticeably absent, highlighting in a roundabout way the tension in racing between safety, spectacle and profit.