An all-star voice cast including Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh, Evanna Lynch and Ardal O’Hanlon are featured in the animated fun of My Freaky Family. Photo: Supplied.
My Freaky Family is a funny, macabre Australian-Irish animated film based on the popular 13-book children’s series The Floods, written and illustrated by Australian author Colin Thompson.
It’s a family-friendly comedy about music, magic and how to follow your dreams. This world of enchantment and mayhem will entertain, with a distinctive whimsical and spooky vibe. It doesn’t shy away from the weird and wacky in either story or visual approach.
Reminiscent of the fantastical fun in Hotel Transylvania and Troll Hunters, the film balances light with darkness to present a clever brand of humour. It is a tale about the collision between the world of enchantment and humans.
The Flood family is extraordinary. Just before her 13th birthday, Betty Flood – budding musician and magical being – is anything but average. She has mastered her violin from practising with her dad, Nerlin, a lineage of magical royalty from her mom, Aneska, and a destiny to bring both worlds crashing together.
Betty is the most normal of the children, but her sisters speak in rhythmic curses that summon fireballs. Her eldest brother builds zombies in his bedroom laboratory and her other brother is a dog, so normal isn’t much of an achievement.
For years, Betty’s family has lived peacefully in the town of Misty Falls, having fled the clutches of King Murkhart and his powerful henchman, Volos the Shapeshifter. Any hint of wayward mystic – the kind you’d expect from a novice, for example – sends shockwaves across the universe and risks exposing the family and forcing them on the run once again.
In Aneska’s view, Betty’s lack of sorcery is a small price to pay for their safety. However, Betty won’t take ‘’no’’ for an answer, and – without understanding the danger – sets out to discover her own magic talent, against her mother’s wishes.
When she travels to the mystical Quicklime Games, she meets a mysterious girl – Misha, who promises to teach Betty magic in secret. Betty’s choices will incur the wrath of a vengeful king, put her family in mortal danger and force her to lead an uprising against a host of magical foes to save the ones she loves – all while dealing with friends who aren’t what they seem, teen crushes, school recitals and lame birthday parties.
As her family’s bewitched history is revealed and Betty learns about the cursed destiny they tried to protect her from, it doesn’t take her long to discover that weirdness, danger, fairy tales and music are just other parts of being a member of the freaky Flood family.
There are more than 150 characters in the film, and they all have a look that matches the quirky worlds that we are in throughout the film. The characters’ features hint at the vast wizardry lands of Nahwaer, and each has surprising features that add an authentic feel to a charmed culture.
Betty (voiced by Evanna Lynch, My Name is Emily, Addiction: A 60s Love Story, and known for playing Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movie franchise) is the youngest of the Flood children, and the only ‘’normal’’ one.
Aneska (voiced by Miranda Otto, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Thin Red Line, The War of the Worlds ) is the mother of the five fantastically frightful Flood children. She also happens to be a powerful Magi and heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Nahwaer.
Nerlin Flood, voiced by Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Ted, Death in Paradise, Derry Girls) is Aneska’s husband and the father of the Flood family. He is a talented musician from the magical race known as the Clef, the hated enemy of the Magi.
The ruler of the Kingdom of Nahwaer, King Murkhart (voiced by Richard Roxburgh, Elvis, Mission Impossible II, Moulin Rouge), is also Aneska’s father and Betty’s grandfather, making Betty the heir to the Nahwaer throne.
Other characters are voiced by Charlotte Friels, Rupert Degas, Ed Byrne, Neil Delamere, Sarah Aubrey, Erin Choy and Semisi Cheekam.
Australian animator, director and producer Mark Gravas (Yakkity Yak Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie, Casper’s Scare School) turns the film’s supernatural genre on its head. All brought to life with vibrant colours, there are shapeshifters, evil sorcerers, worm trains, goblins, knuckleheads, pie monsters and dead grandmas.
Drawing inspiration from the richly coloured clothing and caravans of the European gypsies and the vibrancy of Mexican Dia de los Muertos celebrations, the producers showcase a unique visual style that brings some light and comicality to the spooky, kooky and magical gothic genre.
My Freaky Family, directed by Mark Gravas, Pivot Pictures, is currently available to stream for free on ABC iview.
