The Magician's Elephant is a 2023 animated fantasy film based upon the book The Magician’s Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo. It is directed by Wendy Rogers, written by Martin Hynes, and stars the voices of Noah Jupe, Benedict Wong, Pixie Davies, Brian Tyree Henry, Aasif Mandvi, Cree Summer, Lorraine Toussaint, Mandy Patinkin, Miranda Richardson, and Dawn French.
The story follows a young boy searching for his long-lost sister. Guided by a fortune teller's instructions, he seeks out the elephant of a magician, who may be the key to reuniting the siblings.
The film was released on Netflix March 17, 2023.
Previews: Trailer
The Magician's Elephant includes the following examples:
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The storybook Vilna confiscated from a comrade in arms during the war.
- Gloria's ribbing of her husband's Fleeting Passionate Hobbies, specifically parachuting.
- Cryptically Unhelpful Answer: The fortune teller's only advice on how Peter can find his sister is to "Follow the elephant".
- Determinator: Peter's fundamental virtue is that even when set supposedly impossible tasks, he refuses to simply give up.
- Empathic Environment: The whole town is still suffering from the fallout of a war, in spirit at least, resulting in a permanent blanket of clouds across the sky.
- Exact Words: The fortune teller offers to answer one question for Peter in exchange for his coin, but she makes a point of repeatedly warning him to ask the right question rather than waste it on something that won't give him the information he needs.
- Fortune Teller: At the start of the movie, Peter visits a fortune teller who gives him the clue to find his sister.
- Graceful Loser: The king's whole purpose is to be entertained, so he doesn't mind when Peter's impossible tasks result in Peter losing an expensive sword or causing a valuable soldier to reconsider his calling, and even when the elephant sneezes on him, covering him in snot he takes it in stride because it gets the countess to laugh.
- Impossible Task: The king proposes that Peter complete a series of impossible tasks in order to win the elephant.
- Inept Mage: The titular Magician's power has waned in this world without wonder or hope. He can still do magic, but he only conjure random things, hence the elephant in place of a bouquet. When he and the people start believing again, he gains enough control to send the elephant home.
- Innocently Insensitive: The King in a nutshell. He's self absorbed, he frequently makes remarks that are pretty callous, but ultimately he has no malice.
- I Will Find You: Peter is convinced that his sister is still alive, and is advised to follow an elephant to find her.
- MacGuffin: Everything Peter does is for the elephant, but honestly the elephant really has no purpose to the plot beyond a motivating incident for Peter.
- Misery Builds Character: Vilna tries to invoke this by training Peter in the ways of the soldier, to make the boy tough enough for a cruel world.
- Old Soldier: Vilna is very much this.
- Orphanage of Love: Aside from some wanderlust, Adele is perfectly happy in Sister Marie's orphanage.
- Perpetual Frowner: The countess never smiles ever since she lost her brother in the war. Getting her to laugh is the third impossible task the king sets for Peter.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Vilna the soldier and Sister Marie have been scarred by the past war. The former copes by keeping to his military training, while the latter hides from the world in her orphanage.
