Turning the original tale on its head somewhat, that film’s lead, James Corden, only appears briefly near the end. The bulk of the tale is given to the titular Gruffalo Jr, voiced by Shirley ‘Moaning Myrtle’ Henderson, and it’s hard not to adore the character, with her spirit of adventure, and yet also with a vulnerability that brings something new to the story; there’s one moment in particular towards the end that hits an emotional beat not dreamed of by the first tale. You can’t help but feel a bit sorry for this poor young girl as she gets pushed from pillar to post by the other animals in an attempt to get rid of her. The first film relied quite heavily on rhyming and repetition, and while there’s still a sense of that here it’s less noticeable than first time round; there are a few phrases that crop up time and again, but not in the same shout-along way as with the first film. This does take away a little bit of that magic (especially, I suspect, if you’re watching it with very small children), but the new plot and characters more than make up for this. In short, if you enjoyed the first Gruffalo film, you’ll love this one too. It’s a warm, witty, heart-filled piece of family entertainment that, once again, looks absolutely gorgeous. There’s little here that’s going to win over sceptics, but there’s something here for everyone to love – unless, that is, you’ve got your inner child trapped in a deep, dark well; in which case you may have bigger problems…
