The Canterville Ghost

Well there's never going to be a better version of this than Charles Laughton's 1944 iteration, but this is still actually quite a watchable adaptation of Oscar Wilde's short story. It centres around an American family who relocate to creaky and spooky old "Canterville Chase" - a stately pile that is reputedly haunted by a menacing spectre. The "Otis" family have three children and after the odd eerie visitation, they become distinctly unafraid of their haunting buddy - indeed they are soon trying to find some way of helping "Sir Simon" to lift the curse that has trapped him in limbo for some three hundred years and also to reunite him with his long lost love before the Grim Reaper wins the day. The animation is adequate and there are plenty of whimsical goings on - it's just that the story is over-stretched, there's way too much dialogue and I actually find this works better with real people/scenarios. Animation offers too few limitations on the creative ghostliness and so at times this looks a little too much like an episode of "Scooby Do". Maybe daft to write, but it isn't quite real enough for me! Still, it's good that this story is still doing the rounds - it's a fun tale of true love that's stood the test of time well.

This Oscar Wilde story has been filmed a dozen times, but as far as I know this is the first time it is presented as a CGI film. The CGI is not the very best we've seen, but it is more than watchable.

An American family move into an old stately home to find it is haunted by the ghost of it's former owner. Only the teen daughter of the family, Virginia, strikes up a friendship with the ghost, Sir Simon de Canterville, and together they plot how he can be laid to rest finally. I can't imagine this film scaring many kids so it is perfect for a family watch. It may even serve to make smaller kids less afraid of ghosts as Sir Simon is an utterly nice fellow.

The pace is spot on, the story is good, the voice acting is very good from everyone, and the CGI is enough to satisfy the vast majority of people.

All in all a very healthy and fun film for all ages. I give it a solid 6.

Man, it was such a Magnificent Film, from Start to Finish.

Granted, the Source Material is of Oscar Wilde.

But you still have to Execute.

Elements -

1. Again the Filmmakers already have the Upper Hand with Such Material as this Particular Oscar Wilde Story but the Effective Execution was also There.

2. The Dialogue was Excellent, Forwarding the Plotline Consistently. A Few Good Quips too. "Somehow Cucumber Sandwiches are a Thing, But I don't know why" - or something along those lines, It was Funny to me.

3. The Animation Style, I love this Style. It's Nothing Out of this World, but it had this Charm that Suited this Particular Story.

4. Virginia Otis is Great, she has the Charisma to Lead this thing. Canterville was Ok. And the Rest of the Supporting Cast were Good too.

5. It Hits the Emotional Beats Well.

Overall, Excellent Narrative Storytelling, Great Dialogue, Emotional Beats, it was just a Delightful Watch.

I see a lot of criticism of the animation here. Apparently, I am not so jaded that I cannot enjoy something animated that looks... oh, I don't know... animated? Obviously, the others are so spoiled by "modern" tech that they demand their animation more akin to computer generated AI, completely indistinguishable from reality. That's fine... as for me and mine, we enjoyed this. And trust me, I have seen some really bad computer animation. We thought this was really well done.

I honestly would have given this a higher rating, were it not for the "modern day" re-imagining. I've never read the original, but after looking at some Cliff's Notes, my suspicions were confirmed. Virginia was not the strong-independent-don't-need-no-man heroine she is depicted as here. Not that I really needed to research that to know it. Wilde, nor anyone from his time period would have written this in this "modern" way.

Having said that, were there no other source material to which it could be compared, I would be more than willing to give this an 8. It really was good. It was funny. It was entertaining. It was, aside from the re-imagining of the main heroine, lacking the standard PC elements. Well... aside from the fact that the Duke is a bumbling idiot. But that has been standard fare for decades, so...

Look, if you are looking for something that the entire family can enjoy without being beat of the head with modern day writing, you should give this a watch.

If you like to see a good adaptation of this family Oscar Wilde story best to watch 1944 Jules Dassin version still the best.

In this animation version they have changed the characters to be more socially correct as per Hollywood standards, at the cost of entertainment and a good family time. It is sad that one can not enjoy a simple 2 hours of an old story in form of a new movie these days without being exposed by the legion of revisionist that have to ruin every story to suit their social view. The movie has no likable characters, its not funny. Avoid this and go back to the older versions. Best one is 1944 version mentioned above.

Summary: Terrible adaptation 2 dimensional and not likable.