Wonder Park

In this digitally animated family feature, a magical amusement park proves an imaginary refuge for a young girl when her mother is taken seriously ill. With its array of hair-raising rides and adorable animal mascots, Wonderland is too good to be true since it springs from the fertile creativity of schoolgirl June (voiced by Brianna Denski) and her doting mum (Jennifer Garner). So, when the latter is hospitalised, the park begins to fall apart at the seams, too. As June begins to draw on her own inner resilience, the grown-up audience may spot echoes of both Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro and Pixar's Inside Out, though younger viewers may not grasp that the whole movie is actually a metaphor for coping with cancer. Still, the assured animation provides lots of whizz-bang action, and Doctor Who icon Tom Baker delivers an amiable vocal turn as a galumphing bear. Trouble is, the movie is so busy trying to be clever that the intended emotional pay-off never materialises.