There’s something of the handmade quirkiness of Wallace and Gromit about Louis & Luca and the Snow Machine, a slice of Scandinavian stop-motion animation based on the eccentric characters and universe created by the late Norwegian author Kjell Aukrust. But cocky magpie Louis and his ultra-timid hedgehog friend Luca, the film’s title characters, have only a fraction of the charm of Nick Park’s beloved creations. Still, their mishaps and misadventures prove engaging enough on this outing, which finds the demented local newspaper editor (voiced by Hugh Bonneville) bringing calamity upon the village of Flåklypa after getting his hands on the snow machine created by inventor Alfie, the kindly chap who looks after Louis and Luca and clears up after their scrapes.
Certificate U. Runtime 77 mins. Director Rasmus A Sivertsen
Louis & Luca and the Snow Machine debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on 2 December. Available on DVD from Universal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkb-r_Q3JSM
