The kids have been back at school for a week now but I am only just coming up for air. We celebrated the last day of the school holidays with a pirate themed trip to London. We’ve been invited by Aardman who are launching their film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists on DVD.
First of all there was an impressive pirate-themed buffet. Here is the before and after of the cake (Look away if you are easily distressed by scenes of violence to perfectly good cake):
Then pirate lookalike Jim from Aardman taught us how to turn squishy strips of plasticine into Polly the Dodo, star of the film:
Then we watched the film, and I was surprised to find that Polly, whom I’d made a gawdawful mess of re-creating in plasticine, was actually the star of the show. The film also revealed the significance of a large joint of ham in the buffet. You live and learn.
The juniors and I enjoyed the film very much – it’s a piratey, sciency historical romp with bouncy music. And at 84 minutes it’s not too long, which I liked – too many kids’ films don’t know when to quit when they’re ahead. But this is great fun, we all liked it a lot. Plus one of the pirates is voiced by Jeremy Piven AKA Ari Gold from Entourage who’s always guaranteed aceness.
The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists is out this week on DVD and Blu Ray, priced from £9.99.
Includes lots of bonus features
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• Exclusive to DVD: MR. BOBO’S FLASH CARD CHALLENGE
• “From Stop to Motion” featurette
• “Creating the Bath Chase Sequence” featurette
• DVD-ROM link to more fun online
No cake though. Alas, like dodos, the cake is extinct.