The Gruffalo is one of the most popular British Childrens books of all time, in 2010 it was made into a short animated film and shown at Christmas on the television, this is the DVD of the short film.

In short this is an exceptional piece of work, I watched it with my partner and young child, my child was too young to really appreciate the film at this time but I was enthralled.

The film has a fantastic cast with Helena Bonham Carter narrating the tale as a squirrel, James Corden playing the mouse, Robbie Coltrane playing the Gruffalo, Tom Wilkinson playing the fox, John Hurt playing the owl and Rob Brydon the snake.

The film is based on the book and uses the same rhyming couplets which author Julia Donaldson so skillfully crafted in making this story, it tells the tale of a mouse searching for an acorn laden tree and explaining to various assailants en route that he is meeting a made up beast called the Gruffalo to scare them away from meeting him. The story is simple, the rhymes delightful and the eventual appearance of the Gruffalo adds a lovely twist to the tale which is really good fun.

The cast are excellent, Bonham Carter is clear and eloquent in narration, Corden mixes fear and cockiness as the little mouse with a big personality, Wilkinson, Hurt and Brydon are sly and cowardly in equal measures as the predators on the journey while Robbie Coltrane has fun as the Gruffalo, all actors are restrained and don't go over the top but do a great job transporting us into the woodland world in which they live.

The script is short, the film is 24 minutes, but it is a beautiful film which deserves its 5 stars, the animation is exceptional. It looks amazing and is so clear and descriptive, the animators have done an amazing job in making the characters far enough from reality in the angles of the drawing whilst maintaining an environment that looks real, one moment where the mouse floats through the field on a dandelion was very memorable for me and utterly beguiling.

The movement of the animals is amusing and the mouse in particular shows a lot of emotion in a small number of facial expressions.

The DVD has a photo gallery and a making of documentary which we hope to watch in the future, the film would be perfect for children from 2 years and upwards and is a perfect accompaniment to the popular book. This is a sweet book with a message in it, the message is easy to understand and very positive and the story is well structured and fun.

The soundtrack is gentle and follows the story perfectly while the use of squirrels as narrators helps keep the tale within its original format.

We bought our copy of the DVD from Amazon for £4.99 and think this is well worth it as it won't age, it is beautifully created with love and looks timeless, the story is fun for adults and children and the acting is spot on.

The film is a beautiful creation and a worthy addition to the DVD collection of families and people of all ages who ever enjoyed the book.