The Magician’s Elephant (2023) is a Netflix animated movie that is centered around Peter. He is searching for his long-lost sister Adele. To find her, he will cross paths with a fortune teller who sets Peter off on a journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks to find the answer he desperately seeks.
The film features a multicultural cast and is directed by Wendy Rogers. Benedict Wong, an Asian actor, voices the magician who serves as the title character in The Magician’s Elephant. Brian Tyree Henry is an African actor who voices Leo, a supporting character.
The opening scene begins with narration as it shows Peter running from a guard. The scene pauses with Peter in mid-jump, then rewinds all the way back to Peter’s dream. The scene fades to black, then opens to a bird’s eye view of a town filled with colorful magic. What was once a colorful town has become filled with grey; this is symbolized by the strange clouds that neither rain nor snow, putting people in a gloomy state. The opening scene foreshadows what Peter is about to face.
There are other symbols in The Magician’s Elephant. One symbol is the note on the fortune teller’s tent, asking Peter to pay one coin for his fortune. The note serves as a catalyst for the film’s plot. Peter asks the fortune teller how he can find his sister, and the fortune teller answers, “Follow the elephant.” The elephant is also a title character symbolizing wisdom and power.
When Peter asks the soldier what happened to his mom and sister Adele, the soldier answers that they both died when the town was at war. Peter is unsure about this; the answers to his question about finding his sister drive the plot into action. There is also uncertainty about whether or not elephants exist. Peter has a dream about seeing his mother; he wakes up with determination to find the answers.
Somewhere far away from Peter’s home lies the Girls’ Orphanage house. The scene of the Girls’ Orphanage reveals to viewers that Adele is in fact alive. She dreamt of an elephant; she heard the elephant’s cries in her dreams.
The flashback scene of the soldiers at war reveals to viewers how Peter and Adele were separated: Peter had to leave with the soldier when Adele was only a newborn baby. The soldier found a woman holding Adele in her arms with young Peter at her side. The soldier warns that staying in the house is unsafe, so the woman tells him to take Peter with him. The woman took Adele and raised her in the girls’ orphanage.
A stunt pulled by Peter attracts Adele’s attention. The siblings don’t recognize one another because of their long-time apart. Peter is unaware that the girl he was talking to was Adele all along. The death of the elephant brings a lot of change. For one, the elephant is happy to reunite with its family. Second, the once gloomy sky disappears as the sun comes out. Finally, Peter and Adele are reunited as brother and sister.
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