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Presented in English
This review credits the original voice actors.
Originally titled Elli and the Ghostly Ghost Train, this movie from Germany got renamed to Elli and Her Monster Team for obvious reasons. When this title character wants to be like Casper the Friendly Ghost, this film written and directed by Piet De Rycker and Jesper Møller has morals to preach. Fortunately, it’s not too blatant to undermine the action.
It has moments to like and other bits to puzzle over. When this team had Ottfried Preußler’s “The Little Ghost” in mind as their inspiration, not everyone is going to recognise this storybook! Fortunately, I’m familiar with that work and Hui Buh. They may be the two best-known films outside the country about a spirit looking to make a name for him or herself.
Here, this tale is rather quaint. Here, this tween spirit (voiced by Dalia Schmidt-Foß) is just that, and when Uncle Chamberlain (Oliver Kalkofe) insists on her learning how to be scary, she’s the opposite! But when he disappears, she realizes part of her folly and has to find where he went. When she ends up in a strange futuristic city (ala Logan’s Run rather than Blade Runner), the friends she makes while there include a yeti and vampire. By leaving the countryside on a train, just who she encounters in much of part two means being careful about whom to trust.
After viewing this movie, I’ll have to track down a copy of Klaus Baumgart’s “Elli–Unbelievably Secret,” just to compare artwork. I’m fairly sure this work stole a page from Disney’s book on how to make an animated movie, and some narrative beats got changed. When I recognised bits from Inside Out and Monsters Inc mixed up with elements from Hotel Transylvania, I wondered if that direction was intentional? I’m not fond of musical moments, but in this case, what’s presented works.
While I don’t mind imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I have to wonder if the recent European releases is running out of steam? Not only are the titles rather bland sounding but also a lot of stories are too familiar. I’d prefer a presentation similar to the French live-action animation masterpiece, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec. Though I understand why the producers opted for an animated film to keep costs down, sometimes mixing up reality is required.
When the character designs are bland and too familiar, I suspect the borrowing from PIXAR is because of their globally recognized visual style. Had this work played with Northern European’s rich architectural heritage–be it from the Gothic or Baroque art movement surviving into the 24th century–now that’d be an image to play up and have people to remember. I say this only because I’ve recently backed a Kickstarter campaign that promises to bring the mythical world of Ancient Egypt to the Cyberpunk age. If that ever becomes a movie, I’ll be there in a heartbeat!
3 Stars out of 5
Elli and Her Monster Team Trailer
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