Arriving on HBO Max in the US on Thursday 19th October, is the Max Original animated short film, Peter & The Wolf. The film – based on the fairy-tale of the same name – offers up a modern retelling of the classic story from 1936.
In the film, Peter lives with his grandfather in a cottage, surrounded by a meadow. Outside of the meadow is a dark forest, which Peter is forbidden to go into.
One night, while looking out of his window, Peter sees a wolf walk out of the forest and into the meadow. As he watches from behind the glass, Peter sees the wolf begin to stalk his animal friends (a bird, a duck, and a cat), so he heads outside to investigate.
Narrated by Gavin Friday, and featuring animation based on original illustrations by Bono (yep, that Bono), Peter & The Wolf is a 30-minute black-and-white film, which recounts the famous story many of us grew up on. The movie is scored by The Friday-Seezer Ensemble, who rework Sergei Prokofiev’s original symphony, and is a likeable piece from directors Stephen McNally and Elliot Dear.
Peter & The Wolf mixes different animation styles to tell its story, and this keeps it visually stimulating, while the combination of music and narrative works it magic. There is a reason this tale has endured for decades, and McNally and Dear find a new way to breathe continued life into the story, so it can be modernised without losing its appeal.
Overall, the end result is rather good, with the animation in particular being lovely, and the film’s central theme about loss being heartfelt. The only part which I’m not completely sold on is the narration, which feels a little too sinister for this particular film, but putting this aside, it’s still great stuff!
As noted above, Peter & The Wolf will be available to stream on HBO Max in the US from October 19th. No word yet on when the short will arrive in the UK, but the BBC is handling global distribution, so expect it to pop up quite soon.
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