Resan till Melonia

Alternative title
Journey to Melonia: Fantasies of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, The
Synopsis
Animated feature film inspired by The Tempest, directed and animated by Per Ahlin. A children’s film about the evils of industrial capitalism with a strong ecological message. The tropical paradise island Melonia is inhabited by the wizard Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and all their friends: Ariel is an albatross; Caliban, a monster whose limbs and face are fruit and vegetables, is the wizard’s reluctant slave; William is a poetry-spouting dog with a portrait of Shakespeare above his bed. A ship bound for Melonia from Plutonia, a neighbouring industrialised island, sinks during a storm conjured by Prospero. Washed ashore on three separate parts of Melonia are three pairings: Ferdinand, a stowaway, aged, like Miranda, about 11, and the ship’s timid Boatswain are taken in by Prospero; peg-legged Captain Christmas Tree and the ship’s fabulously tall and buxom female cook wander the island; the short, fat Slagg and tall, thin Slug, are the evil rulers of Plutonia. They staff its hellish munitions factory with enslaved children (Ferdinand has escaped from the factory), who are watched over by robots. Their plan is to take over Melonia and make it just as ugly as their own island.
Slagg and Slug see Caliban accidentally spill a few drops of Prospero’s magic elixir, which causes a huge increase in size in whatever it touches. Realising how this ‘power soup’ might enable them to rule the world, they kidnap Caliban and the elixir and return to Plutonia on a ‘ship’ improvised from a wooden crate.
Prospero and the others give chase. On Plutonia, Miranda rescues the remaining boy slaves from the factory by transforming them temporarily into birds, and they take refuge in an abandoned theatre nearby. Here, William has discovered a manuscript of The Tempest and begins to stage it, using Prospero and the others as his cast. Meanwhile, the imprisoned Caliban has drunk the elixir and, now a giant, floods the factory and the rest of the island - drowning Slug and Slagg. Caliban rescues all those in the theatre from the rising waters. Prospero renounces his borrowed powers and leads everyone back to his home island, freeing Caliban and Ariel and promising that ‘none shall rule’ on Melonia.
Language
Swedish
Country
Norway; Sweden
Medium
Film; Television
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1989
Keywords
children’s films; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Credits

Director
Per Ahlin
Producer
Katinka Farago; Klas Olofsson
Cinematographer
Pelle Svensson; Piotr Joworski
Screenplay
Karl Rasmusson; Per Ahlin
Music
Bjorn Isfalt
Production Design
Per Ahlin
Cast
Allan Edwall 
Ernst Gunther 
Hans Alfredson 
Jan Blomberg 
Olle Sarri 
Robyn Carlsson 
Tomas von Bromssen 

Production Company

Name

Film Teknik

Name

Filmhuset

Name

Norsk Film

Name

SVT Drama

Archive

Name

National Library of Sweden, Department of Audiovisual Media

Email
foexp@kb.se
Web
http://www.smdb.kb.se External site opens in new window
Phone
=46 (0) 10-709 30 20
Fax
+46 (0)10-709 39 34
Address
Research Service
Box 5039
102 41 Stockholm
Sweden
Notes
The Swedish National Archive of Recorded Sound and Moving Images (SLBA) ceased to exist as a public authority in its own right at the end of 2008. As of 1 January 2009, it operate as the Department of Audiovisual Media under the National Library of Sweden.

Online Retailer

Name

Discshop

Web
http://www.discshop.se External site opens in new window
View this record on the Shakespeare site for additional details

Record Stats

This record has been viewed 583 times.