Most of the people I know here in Canada have never even heard of Opal Dream, A.K.A. Pobby and Dingan. One night while they were out watching another pathetic rerun of that disgusting Family Guy show, I went on eBay and bought a DVD of Opal Dream. When it arrived in the mail two weeks later it seemed to be a movie for little children, but as innocent as it seems, it's still got a quality to it that can be just as powerful for adults as for kids.
Set in the great outback of Australia, Opal Dream is the story of the love between a little girl and her two best friends... whom no one else can see. Pobby and Dingan are imaginary friends, and very friendly and caring creatures. Her parents, teacher and brother try to understand Kellyanne's friendship by telling themselves that it's just a phase, that she'll grow out of it, that they're just emotional support for her since the family moved out to Coober Pedy for her dad's mining job, but one day they get fed up with her imaginary friends and force Kellyanne to lose them. In turn, they all learn just how powerful imagination can be, and the only one who seems to be able to finally try to set things right for Kellyanne is her brother Ashmol, and by the time the adults in town finally wake up and start seeing things from Kellyanne's point of view, it may already be too late.
I'm not really sure of the theme of Opal Dream, or even if it has one. My best guess would be that it is trying to show how when a child, or anyone for that matter, loses something important to them, it can have irreversible effects. When it comes to imaginary friends, modern media has made them out to be monsters and signs of mental illness, from the 1978 horror movie Magic to the recent 2012 movie Imaginary friend. It's rather unfortunate that today anyone who has an imaginary friend is viewed as having some sort of trouble, because for some people an imaginary friend is their support, their coping mechanism and the only one they can trust. Believe it or not many adults have them, and these people are still normal, happy members of society. Kellyanne's parents were worried that their daughter was getting to old for her unseen companions. They got their peace of mind, but Kellyanne got cheated out of her childhood.
This movie is surprisingly sad for a children's movie, I won't ruin what happens at the ending but it's incredibly depressing and will leave a lasting memory, that's for sure. The Australian scenery is very beautiful and the acting was excellent. I liked the soundtrack and the whole movie had vague elements of Paperhouse (1988) and Don't Look Under the Bed (1999). Sadly most kids today only want to watch cr*p like The Hunger Games and Disney's Frozen, so it's nice to see that there are still good movies out there for kids if you know where to look. My little brother loved this one too, but because of the ending of the film, you may want to watch t yourself before showing it to your kids. I think it deserves a 10/10 stars, even more than that, it's a beautiful movie with a timeless message and will definitely be one of my favorites for a long time to come.
Set in the great outback of Australia, Opal Dream is the story of the love between a little girl and her two best friends... whom no one else can see. Pobby and Dingan are imaginary friends, and very friendly and caring creatures. Her parents, teacher and brother try to understand Kellyanne's friendship by telling themselves that it's just a phase, that she'll grow out of it, that they're just emotional support for her since the family moved out to Coober Pedy for her dad's mining job, but one day they get fed up with her imaginary friends and force Kellyanne to lose them. In turn, they all learn just how powerful imagination can be, and the only one who seems to be able to finally try to set things right for Kellyanne is her brother Ashmol, and by the time the adults in town finally wake up and start seeing things from Kellyanne's point of view, it may already be too late.
I'm not really sure of the theme of Opal Dream, or even if it has one. My best guess would be that it is trying to show how when a child, or anyone for that matter, loses something important to them, it can have irreversible effects. When it comes to imaginary friends, modern media has made them out to be monsters and signs of mental illness, from the 1978 horror movie Magic to the recent 2012 movie Imaginary friend. It's rather unfortunate that today anyone who has an imaginary friend is viewed as having some sort of trouble, because for some people an imaginary friend is their support, their coping mechanism and the only one they can trust. Believe it or not many adults have them, and these people are still normal, happy members of society. Kellyanne's parents were worried that their daughter was getting to old for her unseen companions. They got their peace of mind, but Kellyanne got cheated out of her childhood.
This movie is surprisingly sad for a children's movie, I won't ruin what happens at the ending but it's incredibly depressing and will leave a lasting memory, that's for sure. The Australian scenery is very beautiful and the acting was excellent. I liked the soundtrack and the whole movie had vague elements of Paperhouse (1988) and Don't Look Under the Bed (1999). Sadly most kids today only want to watch cr*p like The Hunger Games and Disney's Frozen, so it's nice to see that there are still good movies out there for kids if you know where to look. My little brother loved this one too, but because of the ending of the film, you may want to watch t yourself before showing it to your kids. I think it deserves a 10/10 stars, even more than that, it's a beautiful movie with a timeless message and will definitely be one of my favorites for a long time to come.