As he introduces himself, at the beginning of this delightful animated film, Orion claims to be “a kid just like you.”
But that isn’t quite true.
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| Orion is understandably apprehensive when his late-night bedroom is invaded by a partially shapeless, ink-black apparition that introduces himself as Dark. |
As Orion soon confesses, he worries about...
• Murderous gutter clowns;
• Cancer-causing cell phone waves;
• Mosquito bites getting infected, causing a limb to wither and drop off;
• Falling off a skyscraper;
• Being responsible for his team losing;
• Being rejected by Sally, the girl he worships from afar;
• School locker rooms, particularly when local bully Richie Panici is present; and
• Bees, dogs, the ocean, haircuts and monsters.
All of this is depicted in a colorful, crayon-style animated rush lifted from the artwork in Orion’s personal journal: a style distinct from the more traditional animation work in this DreamWorks charmer from director Sean Charmatz, making an impressive big-screen feature debut.
Most of all, though, Orion is afraid of the dark. He insists on sleeping with night lights, and his bedroom door open. His tolerant parents haven’t quite given up on him, but they’re running out of ideas; he blatantly rejects their insistence that much of what he professes to fear would be fun, if he simply yielded to the moment.
“Fun?” he retorts. “Fun is just a word people made up, to make danger sound more appealing!”
Orion and The Dark is adapted from British author Emma Yarlett’s captivating 2014 children’s picture book ... although “adapted” isn’t quite the right word. Her book actually is a jumping-off point for a pleasantly mind-boggling script by Charlie Kaufman, who previously perplexed our brains with Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (the latter earning him a well-deserved Academy Award).
Trust Kaufman to weave a singularly unique, existentialist storytelling style into a children’s fantasy, while smoothly blending this with Yarlett’s gentle wisdoms.
