Albert: Up, Up and Away!

Based on Danish author Ole Lund Kirkegaard's 1968 children's story, this English-language film features surprisingly realistic looking nature scenes but cartoonish characters and animals. Red-haired and mischievous ‘tween Albert has a bit of trouble in his past: as a toddler, Albert caused some damage in the village of Kellytown, which resulted in the destruction of the beloved statue of an air balloon captain. Tasked with replacing the statue when he's older, Albert decides to leave town and come back with an air balloon himself. Along the way, Albert has run-ins with an older-looking greaser bully, kidnaps his best friend Egon to accompany him, meets and goes into cahoots with bumbling pickpockets who are after a precious jewel, and makes a new gypsy friend at a carnival. A scattershot family film, this is not a necessary purchase. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)