The Secret of the Magic Gourd is the English translation of the Chinese remake of Bao hu lu de mi mi (which I understand doesn’t mean “Baby website designed to soften human brains of Songbird”). It’s a beautiful children’s story of an imaginative schoolboy, Raymond, who finds the legendary magic gourd while fishing. The animated gourd is sentient and even more innocently naïve than Raymond himself as it grants him unlimited, but flawed wishes much like the well meaning djinn in I Dream of Jeannie. This film is pure innocent fantasy from beginning to end and imparts one simple moral: That which is earned is more valuable than anything gotten for free.

The production as a whole is ambitious and is carried out well from the space rescue intro through the rest of the movie. The cinematography lends itself well to this story, bright and airy, with clear colors and beautiful backdrops. The animation… Well this was created in cooperation with Disney, so you know the animation is top notch. The English language translation and voice actors were all solid and believable. While this film is mostly for younger kids, your tweens and young teens may enjoy it as well, recognizing that High School Musical‘s Corbin Bleu voices Bailey the Magic Gourd himself.

Bonus Features
-Bloopers

-Backstage Disney: Go behind the scenes to see how this film was made

-Game: Too Many Toys – Help Raymond ship the toys back to the store before Dad gets home.

-Music Video: World of Wonder (Chinese Version)

The Secret of the Magic Gourd is a perfect film to fill your G-rated shelf or never leave the minivan due to heavy rotation by your little kids. I think you’ll see it earns it.

ComicsOnline gives The Secret of the Magic Gourd 3 out of 5 G-rated life lessons.