Synopsis
Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime.
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Cast
- Jacob TremblayElmer Elevator (voice)
- Gaten MatarazzoBoris the Dragon (voice)
- Golshifteh FarahaniDela Elevator (voice)
- Dianne WiestIris the Rhinoceros (voice)
- Rita MorenoMrs. McClaren (voice)
- Chris O'DowdKwan the Macaque (voice)
- Judy GreerSoda the Whale (voice)
- Alan CummingCornelius the Crocodile (voice)
- Yara ShahidiCallie (voice)
- Jackie Earle HaleyTamir the Tarsier (voice)
Recommendations
- 80
Variety
[A] winningly sweet-natured, visually transporting adaptation. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
The deep fondness for the source material comes through, and the painterly hand-drawn aesthetic is enchanting. - 80
Screen Daily
It is a warm, engrossing fantasy. - 80
Slashfilm
Between the charming hand-drawn aesthetic, the imaginative setting, and the myth-like narrative structure, it has that rare quality of being truly timeless; this is a film that could have come out forty years ago, and will feel as relevant generations from now as it does today. - 80
Polygon
Director Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner, The Secret of Kells) and screenwriter Meg LeFauve (Pixar’s Inside Out) have rebuilt the Gannetts’ fragmented, surreal little parable into something that’s more like a conventionally structured kids’ movie, but they’ve also made it more exciting and resonant. It’s a lovely film. - 58
The Film Stage
My Father’s Dragon is another beautifully animated effort from Cartoon Saloon, but the story fails to hit the heights of their previous work—a familiar children’s fable that hasn’t been given the necessary modern makeover.
