I saw The Point around Christmas time many years ago, a Boxing Day, think – I guess I must have been 6 or 7. I’m old enough to forget exactly. The number of people I’ve met since who have seen it are countable on one hand. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit or something but we loved it in my house! It’s a (fairly obvious) fable and a sweet kids story with sing-a-long tunes. The animation is weak, but kooky enough to work – a little like the animation in Yellow Submarine to some extent.
The thing that’s odd about the movie, though, is that the songs are only partially featured even though it originates as a Harry Nilsson album of the same name. The album landed in our house soon after seeing the animation and it became a firm favourite with me to this day.
But I still hankered after seeing the animation again – never repeated on BBC to my knowledge – and after an age of trying, I finally found a copy. Watched it last night after transferring it over to the PS3. Still fun but not as good as I’d remembered (is anything ever?). And I’d forgotten it was Ringo Starr doing the narration – although it’s possible he wasn’t in the original version I saw as Dustin Hoffman, among others, also recorded a voice-over.
It might just be that years of listening to the album have built that into my system but the voices on the movie just don’t cut it. Compare the return of Oblio, successfully having navigated the Pointless Forest with his dog, Arrow, after being banished by the Evil Count…
…with the dulcet tones of Nilsson himself on the same scene from the album:
“Nonsense, you’re in trouble” was a catchphrase for myself and mate Craig for years (I believe he’s mildly infected his kids with Pointism). And “Not so fast. Count” – “hold it, hold it Count” just doesn’t work! And Nilsson’s “He’s got a point there” cracks me up to this day.
Ah well, it’s ears not eyes for me then.
And this still remains a very fine tune and lyric (especially good to sing in empty tube stations at night):
