Young Richard Tyler’s parents are worried about him. He’s got tons of facts and figures, has his room set up just right “in case of emergency”, is afraid of heights and just about everything else in the world. His father is particularly worried about him, and sends Richard out on a mission. He needs to ride his bike into town, go to the hardware store and get more nails for the tree house his father is building. Richard doesn’t want to go, but his father tells him it is something he needs to do.
Richard readies himself for his journey, which includes a helmet, bright orange safety vest and other safety gear and takes off for the store. Along the way he’s taunted by the neighborhood kids for not being brave enough to ride up a ramp and jump over a huge barrel (which has to be a good five, maybe six feet up, and I know I wouldn’t have done as a kid). He continues into town, but a sudden storm strikes and eager to get out of the storm, he takes a side road and ends up at the town’s library. He runs inside where he meets the librarian, who tells Richard he ought to have a library card. The librarian sets Richard up and encourages him to look around the library. Richard walks to the center of the library, which is circular in design) and looks up, seeing a beautiful painted ceiling with scenes from different books, and in the very center is a wizard.
But Richard missteps, slips on the wet floor and falls hard flat onto his back, getting knocked out for a moment. When he opens his eyes, he notices that there is something wrong with the ceiling and the paint starts to drip. It continues to increase and Richard starts to run down the libraries aisles, seeking to avoid the deluge of paints that have coalesced into a river that’s heading straight for him. But he runs out of places to run and the paints cover him. When he opens his eyes, he realizes he’s been turned into a cartoon. The wizard from the painting approaches him and tells him that he is the Pagemaster, and in order to find the exit, Richard must make it through three sections, Adventure, Fantasy and Horror. Only then will he be able to leave. Richard, of course, wants nothing to do with it, but soon realizes he has no choice.
Along the way, Richard is helped by a book from each section he must conquer. He’s able to let go, have fun and overcome his fears. It’s a good movie for kids, though the horror section made my 5 year old a little nervous (Richard must escape from “Mr. Hyde” who is pretty scary looking for that age group). It really promotes reading and how you can get lost in the pages of a good book. It’s also short, about an hour and ten minutes and is rated G.
“The Pagemaster” stars Macauley Calkin, Christopher Lloyd, and the voices of Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg and Leonard Nimoy.
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