A computer animated adventure based on popular Czech puppet characters, this is a fun movie for younger kids but will have adults gnashing their teeth as they watch the annoying Harvie cause most of the problems and then have to change his irritating ways to be able to solve them.
Harvie, you see, is a pretty selfish kid who spends all night playing a new computer game and is hideous to his father the next morning when he accidentally breaks it.
That’s relatively minor, however, to the chaos Harvie unleashes later that day when he uncovers a mystical device that looks like a gaming control at the puppet museum where his dad works, presses some buttons and brings the quirky-looking puppets to life. Unfortunately he also resurrects nefarious puppet master Bastor, and it’s up to Harvie and his long-suffering pal Monica to battle him and save the town.
The odd-looking Harvie and his dad are very similar to the Czech characters on which they are based, and they are given a brightly-coloured, nicely animated background to have their adventures in. There’s nothing that new in the plot – after all, we’ve had puppets and toys come alive in movies like Goosebumps, Toy Story and (if you’re a grown up) Child’s Play and Magic – but there are enough neat touches (the dragon is pretty cool) to keep younger viewers amused until the enjoyable finale.
Is Harvie And The Magic Museum suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Very young children may be scared by the puppets initially as they are a little strange-looking.
They may also be frightened by Bastor, especially later in the movie as he attempts to destroy the town.
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