Always running away, but never running out!<BR>&nbsp;

Always running away, but never running out!

Generations of Australian children have enjoyed Norman Lindsay`s \"The Magic Pudding - The Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum\" since it was published in 1918. The best things about this animated film of the book are that the drawings stay close to the Lindsay originals, and that the voice cast is good - headed by Geoffrey Rush as the plucky young Koala hero. There`s also Sam Neill as Sam the Penguin, Hugo Weaving as Bill Barnacle, the landlocked sailor and John Cleese as Albert, the irascible pudding. Sadly, though, the writers and director Karl Zwicky - apparently in an effort to make the story more relevant - for that read make the Americans interested - have taken gigantic liberties with the material. Bunyip is now searching for his lost parents (Mum is voiced by Toni Collette) and there`s a villainous wombat, Buncle, voiced by Jack Thompson, who imprisons animals in a cave. Though the drawings are fine, the animation is often ugly and hard to watch, and the songs uninspiring. If you don`t love the book, you may love the film; if you do love the book, you`ll be sadly disappointed.