This fun, family film from Dutch movie-makers is an action-packed, English-dubbed caper that finds a broken family of three racing to save not only themselves but others from impending doom. The tween siblings — a young innocent brother Johannes (Mylanus) and controlling over-mature sister Nella Della (Ketelaar) — discover a leprechaun-type character in their home that calls himself a Wiplala. They immediately encounter his magical powers that often go awry when he turns their cat into stone. Wiplala calls this “betwinkling,” and he is unfortunately incapable of “unbetwinkling,” so those caught in his mishaps end up in this unfortunate state forever.
When the absent-minded and somewhat critical father gets pulled into the adventures, they all accidentally shrink down to the size of Wiplala, and the four of them go on a quest for a way to unbetwinkle the unfortunate victims who have been caught in Wiplala’s path, such as Arthur the local poet, and various inanimate objects. Simultaneously, the goal for the three musketeers is to return to their normal size.
In the meantime, this team finds themselves cruising through the streets of Amsterdam in a toy car, recruiting a teenage patient in a hospital for help, flying through the sky on a pigeon, nursing injuries, and discovering the solution to a much-needed problem when a famous Greek statue comes to life. Though the lesson Wiplala learns is a bit trite, it helps him save the day. More importantly, this family without a mother bonds in new ways and learns to appreciate what they have by embracing love and compassion instead of fear and anxiety.
