In this Cinematic Adaptation of School of Magical Animals, It’s OK to Sing-A-long

School of Magical Animals shows that not every German-made fantasy is about the works from the Brothers Grimm.

School of Magical Animals Movie PosterBlue Fox Entertainment
Playing at select cinemas; please check local listings.

The live-action adaptation of Margit Auer‘s School of Magical Animals (Die Schule der magischen Tiere) has a few interesting changes, and the most prominent is the fact this presentation is also a musical. Unless this adaptation does really well in the box office, all that character development I found in this film requires more movies than one to fully realise. Unlike Rowling’s narrative concerning who are the bad guys, the mystery simply involves finding out who is pranking and stealing items from the school.

Aside from a few Easter egg style aesthetics taken from Harry Potter, I can’t help but wonder if Miss Cornfield (Nadja Uhl), a teacher in this institution, is intentionally made up to resemble Rita Skeeter. As for whether she’s a friend or foe to Ida (Emilia Maier), that’s a detail I won’t spoil. The friends she makes–Benni (Leonard Conrads) and Jo (Loris Sichrovsky)–at the school she’s admitted to is special, but not everyone knows it’s a unique institution which helps young ones hone their ability to interact with the supernatural.

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