4 stars of brilliantly effective 3D action for children.
House Of Magic is brought to us by Jeremy Degruson and Ben Stassen, the director’s behind A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures and Sammy’s Great Escape.
This charming animation tells us the story of Thunder (Murray Blue), a young kitten who is rather horribly abandoned by his owners at the start of the film as they are moving house.
Alone and on the streets, he tries to make some friends, but is unsuccessful and is forced to try to find shelter. He spots an old, very large house and manages to sneak inside, only to discover a very scary attic, where he has some brilliantly exciting 3D encounters with spiders and darts and all sorts of other bits and bobs.
The house belongs to Lawrence (Doug Stone – Ghost In The Shell, Ninja Scroll), aka The Illustrious Lorenzo, a semi-retired magician, who immediately takes a liking to Thunder and offers him a home. 
It seems like the ideal solution, and the house is full of Lawrence’s little creations, including a Swedish Chef, a little Helicopter type thing and an adorable light bulb man called Edison.
However, his existing pets, Maggie the mouse (Shanelle Gray) and Jack the rabbit (George Babbit) are none too keen on another animal muscling in on their masters attention and will do everything in their power to evict poor Thunder.
When their antics result in Lawrence ending up in hospital and his evil estate agent nephew turns up with designs on selling the house, Thunder and the rest of the inhabitants must find a way to work together to prevent him from getting his way and kicking his uncle (and all his pets and little gizmos) out of his own house. Luckily, he is allergic to cats, making Thunder a potential secret weapon.
This is a really enjoyable film to watch, it’s probably about as much fun as you can have watching a kid’s film. The 3D is very “in your face”, so you spend half your time dodging darts and bits of wood and flying bubble gum balls, which will be perfect for kids and is great for adults too.
The 3D is incredibly well done and much better than you might expect from something without the might of Hollywood behind it. Everything in the world is 3D, from the door handle in the background that you feel you could open, to the tip of Thunder’s nose which reaches out of the screen towards you.
Although the story-line is simple, it is well thought out and works fine and the glorious animation and stunning 3D more than make up for any shortcomings story wise.
The House Of Magic is aimed at younger viewers, but will certainly be something that the whole family can enjoy together. Ideal for a Christmas stocking filler this festive season.
The House Of Magic is available to buy now on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.
| Director | Jeremy Degruson, Ben Stassen |
| Genre | Children's comedy, Animation, 3D |
| Starring | George Babbit, Shanelle Gray, Murray Blue, Doug Stone, Joey Camen |
Available to buy on :   | |