The ErlKing

Based on the titular poem by Goethe, director Ben Zelkowicz's The ErlKing is a beautifully-rendered, sand-on-glass-animated short in which a father and young son driving a wagon through a dark scary forest are accosted by the ErlKing--a menacing crowned and eyeless figure--that only the terrified son can see. Although the father variously attributes the son's fevered imaginings to be the "mist" or the "wind" or the "aged grey willows," the poem concludes with the father and son reaching their destination, where in Goethe's haunting final line "the child in his arms finds he motionless, dead." Why this was chosen as an ALA-ALSC 2005 Notable Children's Video frankly baffles me: not because of the somber theme--most contemporary children's fare is terribly bland and deathly afraid of upsetting the target audience by challenging emotions--but because the entire soundtrack is comprised of baritone Paul Berkolds singing the poem, set to Franz Schubert's music, in German, with no subtitles. And the Pokemon/Barbie crowd is going to line up for this? I don't think so, but it's still a truly amazing piece of animation (and the poem is translated on the inside of the video jacket) that would be a fine choice for general arts collections (rather than languishing unseen in the children's area). Recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)