Journeying into the Animated Adventure of The Magic Voyage VHS

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The Magic Voyage VHS is a children's animated film that was released in 1992. The film tells the story of a young English girl named Margaret who travels back in time to help the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Margaret is transported to 1820s Vienna where she meets Beethoven and tries to help him complete his Ninth Symphony. Along the way, Margaret encounters various historical figures and learns valuable lessons about friendship and perseverance. The Magic Voyage VHS is known for its colorful animation and catchy musical numbers. The film incorporates elements of fantasy and adventure as Margaret embarks on her magical journey through time.


This movie must have been one of the first films I saw that starred Dom DeLuise. Though he is dead, I still consider him to be one of the most lovable actors to have existed, given the fact that he often portrayed gentle, funny, friendly characters such as Tiger from An American Tail. To me, there's just something grandfatherly about some of the characters he played.

Through what can only be described as a collection of idiotic antics by the protagonists, they manage to destroy the temple and save the Princess, only to be confronted by the natives. I know this movie was originally made in German, but seriously, couldn t they at least try to match the mouths instead of ad libbing bad dialogue the entire movie.

The magic voyage vhs

The film incorporates elements of fantasy and adventure as Margaret embarks on her magical journey through time. The story is filled with historical references and educational content, making it an entertaining and informative watch for children and adults alike. One of the main themes of the film is the power of music.

User Reviews

Remember Christopher Columbus's voyage and how he found America? Do you remember Christopher's traveling companion Pico the wood worm? I don't either. Do you remember how Columbus's worst enemy was a swarm of evil bees who held some sort of bug princess captive? Neither do I. In fact, you can't even say this movie has any fact to it. True there was a man named Christopher Columbus, but that's all they got right (and the names of the ships), everything else just makes no sense. Whoever animated this must've been high, and whoever wrote it must've been mentally retarded.

Pico the woodworm (voiced by Corey Feldman) somehow becomes best friends with Christopher Columbus (voiced by Dom Deluise) and they travel off to prove the world isn't flat. Pico meets Marylin the fairy princess of the moon sprite (Whatever the heck that is), and keeps fantasizing about her. Columbus and his crew of 3 or 4 men, 3 rats and 1 woodworm set out and find America in about 2 days time, just like it happened in real life. The climax involves Columbus fighting a swarm of bees and trying to take gold from what looks like an Aztec or Mayan temple.

This movie should have never been made! What was the point of it? It makes no sense whatsoever. Columbus and a woodworm travel to America, okay, I buy that. They try to tell the tale, but also add an animated comic relief for the kiddies, but Pico isn't even a comic relief, he's the main character. Columbus is more like the comic relief and I've seen shots to the head that are funnier than Columbus's non stop ranting. The animation is freaking horrible! Half the time when a character talks their mouth isn't even moving. The swarm of bees that shouldn't have even been in the movie to begin with looked like a big swarm of feces, which is how I can also sum up the film. it's nothing but a big pile of feces. The character designs are also awful, with everyone having a big nose, including Pico who's nose looks like one of those Bugle potato chips. The dialogue seems ad libbed, as does the entire script. I know this movie was originally made in German, but seriously, couldn't they at least try to match the mouths instead of ad libbing bad dialogue the entire movie. Unfortunately, this is also a musical, with some really awful songs and even worse singing. The climax is anti-climactic and only lasts for about 2 minutes, never putting the characters in harms way, though it would've been much more enjoyable to see the whole lot of them killed.

If you couldn't figure it out, I hate this movie. It's the most awful animated film I've ever seen, and I've seen some real stinkers. This might be one of the worst movies ever made. It has no real plot and the animation is horrid. Avoid it at all costs!

My rating: BOMB/****. 80 mins. Rated G.

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Permalink 5 /10 billgh4 18 May 2008 Warning: Spoilers

I have given this film five stars because it is worthy of both a one and a ten.

It deserves one star because it is one of the lowest, most ill-conceived, pathetic films I have ever seen. But it deserves ten stars as well. Because in being one of the sloppiest and most absurd films ever made, it is certainly one of the most comical.

I had remembered this film from my childhood, but after viewing it at the age of seventeen, I gained an entirely new perspective of this film. I purchased it with the interest that it might bring back memories. But it is now a gem in my collection, one of the most entertaining motion pictures I have ever witnessed or ever will witness.

It would be a misconception to clump this film with other films labeled 'so-bad-it's-good.' Rather, what makes this film enjoyable is its utter preposterousness; it crosses the boundaries of a typical children's film into the bizarre and surreal. One user hit the nail on the head when commenting on this film, saying that the viewer is led to ask the question: 'Why?' The dialogue is clumsily splattered all over the place. Every other line is something that could easily be thrown out, some of which touch into some realm of absurdity never to be revisited throughout the film. At other times, entire segments of dialogue seem completely unnecessary. It seems as if the voice actors were not only poorly improvising the script, but were also clueless as to what the story involved.

The characters are completely senseless. Columbus, in particular, is hardly a character at all. Though they initially portray him as an ambitious explorer, the character gradually goes downhill as the film progresses, until the end of the film, at which point he has transformed into a raving madman running around in his underwear. 'Gold! Gold!!' he shouts gluttonously, his eyeballs shifting into all sorts of phantasmagorical shapes. One moment, he is clambering through the forest in search of gold, and the next moment he is paralyzed with fear, offering the other characters meaningless quips and puns. Meanwhile, he scrambles through the forest screeching maniacally, adding nothing to the plot save for absolute chaos.

Generally, the film seems to dismantle as it goes on. The events within the plot grow more useless with every scene. By the fiery climax of the movie, it has all been reduced to pitiful bedlam. All that can be heard are the angry bellows from the evil 'Swarm Lord,' and the incessant wailing of Columbus. While the film seems to draw toward the dramatic demise of the evil 'Swarm Lord,' it is all ended when Columbus plummets down and inadvertently squashes the great swarm of bugs with his 'gold.' A squishing noise is heard; 'Hey! You squished the Swarm Lord!' says 'Bob the Beaver' in his Eeyore-like voice, since this abrupt turn of events would be completely undecipherable without such an explanation. The conflict has ended suddenly and unexpectedly.

Without a doubt, it is a ridiculously poorly-made film, but those who are fond of absurdity are sure to love it. Moments of senselessness amount to great moments of comedy. Therefore, I recommend this film to anyone who is not a small child, and who feels ready for some laughs. If you begin to watch this film, and it does not seem promising at first, all you have to do is wait; watch as a seemingly innocent children's movie turns into a boiling pot of mayhem.

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Permalink 1 /10 BrettErikJohnson 14 September 2004

This is one of those films where you just don't have any idea why it was even made. Why in the world would Germans feel drawn to a story featuring Christopher Columbus, a wood worm, a firefly princess and some sort of horribly, horribly animated swarm something-or-other? I just keep asking myself over and over again, "Why?"

The overall animation doesn't even come close to looking like anything out of the 1990's. It is very simplistic, drab and amateur-looking. Supposedly stationary objects jiggle back and forth and the mouths of characters don't match the words being spoken way too many times.

Forget about all of the important ingredients necessary to make a decent animated film. Dom DeLuise and Corey Feldman as your main voice talent? Ugh. Sheesh. and the songs in the film! You will thank me for the following advice: Do not keep any sharp objects lying around while watching this film! If you happen to find a pencil before you find the "Mute" button on the remote, well, you will probably be tempted to use it to puncture your eardrums. The sole good song is the one by Al Jarreau over the closing credits.

I don't even know where to begin as far as the story goes. Something about a wood worm who walks and talks and wears clothes. He has a carrot for a nose and tells Christopher Columbus that the world is actually round and not flat or square. The wood worm, named Pico, snags a girlfriend but she is later kidnapped by a swarm creature. Columbus convinces the Queen to give him three ships so he can sail to Asia and Pico tags along to try and find his girlfriend. They end up landing on a tropical island and find a fortune in gold. Is any of this sounding interesting to you?

This is one of those many films where you just know that the story behind the development of it is infinitely more interesting than the film itself. I don't know why the Germans didn't make something that they could relate to better. They tried to emulate an American animated film but completely and utterly failed. Even early episodes of "The Smurfs" are filled with more complex storytelling and cutting edge animation than this disaster. Bon Voyage! 1/10

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Permalink 5 /10 sitonpickle 6 May 2011

This is a movie that is supposedly the story of how Columbus discovered America with his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

We all know the story of how Columbus discovered that the earth is round, but not many of us are stupid enough to think that a wood worm told Columbus this revolutionary idea. There's even a scene in which Columbus says to a ship crew man, "this isn't an ordinary wood worm, this is the word worm that told me the world was a'round! Did you know the world was round, amigo!"

Not only that, but there's a lot of other historically accurate characters, such as a giant swarm of bugs called "The Swarm Lord" and a fairy named Marilyn from a fairy land called "Moon Twilight".

It shouldn't surprise anyone that this movie was made by German film makers. It's unbelievable how little the makers gave a crap about history. The movie is directed by Michael Schoemann, who more then likely read the introduction on a history book about Columbus, closed the book, rolled it up into a giant cigar and smoked his brains out with marijuana and said "Hey, you know what this story needs? Swarm Lords, a talking wood worm and fairies. "

Like many people on IMDb, I saw this movie while I was a child and loved it. By the time Columbus and his crew get on the ocean sailing, the movie goes sugar high insane with Columbus going crazy in his dreams, singing a song and a strange climax after the arrival in America and bugs attacking. There's apparently more to fear then just the edge of the world.

I found the movie to have some pretty hilarious moments in it's idiotic premise, such as the horrible dubbing which most of the time goes along lips that aren't even moving, a few lines from crazy Columbus and an argument concerning the ship running over a fish.

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Permalink 2 /10 l-62911 14 January 2017

Ahhh, bad animated films. We love these kinds of flicks don't we? We love moaning about the annoying characters that we want to bash their brains out, we laugh at the rushed and cheap animation and we cringe at the crappy songs that won't make any of the Disney songwriters cry in their sleep.

Now with this little beauty here called The Magic Voyage, you have to take it with a magic pinch of salt.

You can either call it a horrible horrible film that has no redeeming qualities and is just annoying to watch, or you can go the extra mile and call it a bad film but still unbelievably funny to watch.

Guess which path I'm taking Sherlocks? Yep, that's right, the second path because I found the Magic Voyage to be a hysterical piece of animated trash from our good ol friends in Germany.

Now I can sort of see what they were going for here, they wanted to give Disney a good run for their money and try to make an animated film. They tried but they more or less failed on all accounts.

The animation here is unbelievably bad, like Paddy The Pelican levels of awfulness. This kind of thing would feel more right at home on 70's Saturday Morning TV with some other "classics" like all those toons focusing on those popular stars.

Oh yes you're also in for a treat, because like it's little brother Felix The Cat, half of the dialogue doesn't even match with the lips. Great fun for all, you could take a shot each time they make this error.

Voice acting is pretty bad, not like Felix though but still bad nonetheless. Look Mr DeLuise, I love you man but you just wasn't right for the role of Christopher Columbus and the less said about that wood character thingy the better.

Are you a person who loves history? Too bad, better look elsewhere because this is also packed with tons of historical accuracy, it goes completely off the walls and makes even Pocahontas look even more accurate by comparison.

Oh yes and this film doesn't know when to take a quick breathe just like Felix, so it's pretty loud half the time. I'm pretty sure, if this film was a real person, it would be dead in under 10 minutes or so.

Magic Voyage was hysterically bad and incredibly funny to watch. It's basically a trainwreck that is so big you can't help but just watch it anyway. A gigantic failure for all involved and pushes animation back 80 million years. (Hold on, did animation even exist back then? Beats me.) Right, I'm off to make my own historically inaccurate animated film. Byyyeeee.

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Permalink 1 /10 gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297 13 October 2011

Do you remember A Troll in Central Park? You know, the film that had very annoying characters, terrible songs, a pathetic plot, and horrible writing? Yeah, but at least it had beautiful animation, solid character designs, cool looking visuals, and even the voice acting was even entertaining.

Oh, boy. Where do I even begin?

It revolves around Christopher Columbus who wants to journey to prove that the world is round all because of a woodworm named Pico, who meets a fairy princess of the moon sprites, but is later captured by the evil swarm lord who wants to use the princess to find the sacred light in the Aztec temple. So, they team up with other animals like three rats and a beaver with an Eeyore-like voice to save the princess and battle against the swarm lord.

You think that the Germans of this horrid film tried to make a story about the Spanish explorer (in this movie he's Italian) traveling around the world, but you're wrong. There were so many things that were totally wrong with this movie.

The animation was awful. It had lazy character designs and inconsistent backgrounds. It kind of looks like Disney, but at most times, it looks like a Saturday morning cartoon.

The voice acting? Ugh! Don't even get me started on the voice acting. I mean, I love Dom Deluise, but he's just wasn't meant to be in this film. They've done a horrible job with their voice performances.

The songs? Oh, god. They were so annoying it makes me want to press the mute button. The only good song is the one by Al Jarreau in the ending credits.

The story was ridiculous. I mean, an evil swarm lord? Princess of the moon sprites? Sacred light? Is it me or did the Germans drank too many beers when they came up with this kind of crap. Well, at least it had done what it set out to do, but that's not worth sitting through this god awful torture.

The Magic Voyage is an awful film. It's horribly animated, poorly acted, and of course, the story is completely ridiculous. If there was some way to get to the Germans, I would say: BEGONE ALL OF THY!

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Permalink 1 /10 rorymacveigh 18 July 2012 Warning: Spoilers

I have a strong feeling that this is Germany's way of getting back at America for past discrepancies, of which I will not go too deeply into, but either way, this film is so bad, so utterly putrid, it falls straight off the edge of my bad movie category and into the darkest depths of the oblivion. Let me explain.

First, for a story about how Christopher Columbus produced his theory on how the World was round and how new worlds may exist beyond the horizon, it seems to have absolutely nothing to do with that. Instead a bookworm who just magically happens to know everything tells Columbus that the World is round, which sends him to the King and Queen with his theory. Oh and apparently the Queen has a crush on him, but that's another story. In the first few minutes, you'd probably have noticed this film suffers from the same problem as Felix the Cat, it cannot be silent for 1 miserable second. There's always talking, always some noise of some description that is almost the equivalent of some guy yelling at you because he thinks that if he's silent he won't be garnering 100% of your attention.

So anyway, Christopher Columbus is given his ship and told to find the New World. Meanwhile, the story takes another divergence into the realms of stupidity as the Bookworm comes across a firefly trapped in a Chandelier, it turns out she is a Princess who possesses a magic light that is wanted by a Swarm Lord. Think we're getting a bit off topic at this point? According to the idiots who wrote this we're retracing the moments of history step by delirious step. Anyway, the Swarm Lord comes out of nowhere and steals her away to his land across the sea, which just so happens to be the USA.

The next day they set sail and the bookworm tells Columbus about his predicament, which somehow Columbus believes and decides to change the goal from discovering the New World to an elaborate Rescue Mission of a bug he probably doesn't even know exists, but for some reason he is just so obliviously accepting of all these inconceivable facts. As the voyage continues, and after a ridiculous dream sequence which could only be thought up by someone with an unknown mental illness, the crew lose faith in his judgement and try to hang him. But as timing would have it, the ship strikes on the shores of the New World just as he's being hung out to dry.

Wearing nothing but his boxers, Columbus, the bookworm and their new found talking Beaver friend go to a nearby Aztec temple that is controlled by the Swarm Lord and they attempt to break the Princess free. Through what can only be described as a collection of idiotic antics by the protagonists, they manage to destroy the temple and save the Princess, only to be confronted by the natives. The natives were in fact honouring the Swarm Lord themselves and so they are eternally grateful to Columbus for destroying it. And thus the story ends.

There you have it folks, the most idiotic representation of the discovery of America. This and a collection of terrible editing, worthless scriptwriting, inconsistent animation and more noise than a concert by Queen, makes this film genuine in the sense that it is so bad.

Personally, I think Alvin Seville from Alvin and the Chipmunks had a more believable story that Columbus did in fact cross the Atlantic aboard the Titanic before falling off the edge of the Earth only to find he didn't fall off the edge of the Earth and his soul purpose for finding the New World was to flog T-shirts. You know, I can actually relate to a story like that, because it is told in a way you can actually get your head around, unlike the garbage that was made for film that just takes history and drowns it in its own bathtub.

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Permalink 9 /10 joebrian55 4 February 2012 Warning: Spoilers

To start off, this movie was one of my favourite movies since I was little, so naturally I am quite sorry to have read so many negative reviews for this movie.

People here complain about the film's historical inaccuracies and the mere fact that it is a German cartoon based on American history. Well, anyone who totally bashes this but writes favourable reviews for Pocahontas, Anastasia etc. is clearly a hypocrite because Pocahontas wasn't friends with a raccoon and a hummingbird.

This movie must have been one of the first films I saw that starred Dom DeLuise. Though he is dead, I still consider him to be one of the most lovable actors to have existed, given the fact that he often portrayed gentle, funny, friendly characters such as Tiger from An American Tail. To me, there's just something grandfatherly about some of the characters he played.

The story here is very much influenced by Disney, with a woodworm joining Christopher Columbus on a journey to not only prove the world is not flat, but also rescue a fairy princess from the clutches of the evil Swarm Lord, who is actually a very menacing villain, the performance of Grizzly Adams' Dan Haggerty is quite effective.

I've seen the Nostalgia Critic review for this, and although I find it funny, I don't think this movie is awful, annoying and an insult to the audience's intelligence. If you're REALLY concerned that your kids will grow up believing what the movie shows and not what the books say, just explain what really happened. Your kids might understand if you just explain, I didn't grow up believing this.

Bottom line, this movie is great. Even my two older brothers and my parents like it, and if you don't like it and you never saw it as a kid, just keep in mind that it's A KIDS MOVIE!

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Permalink 1 /10 TheLittleSongbird 29 June 2011

I saw The Magic Voyage as a big stickler for animation. The Magic Voyage is a terrible movie and somewhat pointless as well. On the other hand to its credit, it does succeed in what it set out to do, to inform and entertain the young audience, so I can't entirely hate on it. Although I realise the movie is really poor after many years of not seeing it, I loved it as a kid, hence what I said about what the film tried to accomplish.

The animation is really quite bad. The colours are okay-ish, but the background art is lifeless and the character designs especially the noses are odd. I liked the songs as a kid, I was shocked at how forgettable the melodies were and how inane the lyrics were as a young adult(19) though, and how little they do in telling the story or moving it forward. The story is unfocused and made up of overlong and disconnected scenes, while the writing is both laughable and bizarre.

The characters are also unmemorable and unengaging. The title character sometimes doesn't even feel like a title character, while Pico is very annoying. I do like the voice cast as in actors in general, but I just found them really bland here, yes even Dom DeLuise. So all in all, terrible but because of what it aimed to do I can't be too overly hard on it. 1/10 Bethany Cox

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Permalink 1 /10 etg1701 19 March 2006

This is without a doubt one of the stupidest films ever created. Everything from the characters to the plot to the atrocious songs is just ridiculous to a degree that is simply unfathomable. It's actually rather hard to explain because the flaws are just too numerous. Suffice to say, you will need a vomit bucket for this.

It is certainly the worst movie I've seen all the way through and I'm shocked that it didn't get a perfect 1.0 out of 10.0 for the average score. If it were up to me, I'd give this stinker a -10 or better yet, go back in time and prevent it from ever being made. Oh well, there is anime for those in search of quality animation.

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Permalink 2 /10 planktonrules 19 May 2023

From IMBD Trivia: "During the film's release in German theaters, director Michael Schoemann stated that the reason this film doesn't tell the real story about the discovery of the New World is because he wanted to create a film from a more satirical view in order to differentiate ourselves clearly from the lofty views of history, so we can present Columbus as a lovable, charming, and befuddled scholar, rather than having him portrayed as a greedy explorer as depicted in history books."

Christopher Columbus is a very controversial figure these days and instead of dealing with the controversy the filmmakers of "The Magic Voyage" decided to skirt this controversy by simply making up everything about Columbus. They also decided to include some common myths about Columbus. For example, the film says he traveled west to prove the Earth was round instead of flat. though folks in the 15th century knew the Earth was round. I'm a history teacher. trust me about this! So, from the outset you must understand that the film is NOT a history lesson. and I cannot see why parents would show a movie to their kids which is filled with myths and lies. Despite being nearly complete fiction, is the film entertaining? After all, kids won't care if the story is true. but they will care if it's boring or awful.

The story is, naturally, about Christopher Columbus. But in this version he is given ample help by his new friend, Pico. a worm. or is he a grub. or an alien. or a talking piece of cheese? Well, it's hard to tell, as the 'thing' has two arms and two legs! Whatever it is. it's a most unusual friendship. even by cartoon standards.

The quality of the animation in this film certainly won't be mistaken for Disney. It's not terrible. but it certainly is second-rate. or perhaps third. The songs are okay. and one of them is pretty catchy. As for the script and dialog. it's simply not good and often brings in fairies and other things which seem REALLY out of place. Combined with the historical errors, it's a film I'd be loathe to show to anyone. especially kids. And, considering everything, I don't thinks would mind skipping this one.

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Permalink 1 /10 cinephile-27690 17 January 2019

My Grandma has a friend who let me have a free box of mostly animated VHS tapes, and so I selected a bunch and this one was one of them.

It looked cute, and I like the idea of an animated feature about Columbus. However, I put it on for about 2 minutes and heard all of this dull narration about how he sailed the ocean blue and I thought-okay, I have no interest. Then I took it out, rewound it in my rewinder, and set it aside to get rid of.

Should I be able to review a movie I saw for only 2 minutes? Sure-Roger Ebert reviewed Johnathan Livingston Seagull after seeing 45 minutes, and he saw only 8 minutes of True Loved.

The animation is crummy, the narration was dull, and there are superior movies for children to see. There, that summarizes my thoughts.

This probably earns 0 stars from what I saw, but I will be nice and actually give it my above 1.

The average rating here is a 3.4/10-and the quality of just the opening alone really shows its justification. The other reviews should show something too.

PS, I was looking at a list of the worst animated movies ever made and this popped up. I had completely forgotten of it's existence until now. I have not thought about it for a couple of years.

The magic voyage vhs spreadsheet
The magic voyage vhs

Through her interactions with Beethoven, Margaret learns about the importance of creativity and the impact that music can have on people's lives. The film also emphasizes the value of determination and never giving up, as Margaret faces several challenges along her voyage but remains steadfast in her mission. Overall, The Magic Voyage VHS is a heartwarming and educational film that entertains while teaching important lessons. It combines history, music, and adventure to create an engaging story that captivates viewers of all ages. This VHS is a timeless classic that continues to be enjoyed by families around the world..

Reviews for "The Evolution of Animation: A Look at The Magic Voyage VHS"

- John - 2 stars - I really did not enjoy "The Magic Voyage" on VHS. The animation was subpar and the storyline was confusing. I found it hard to connect with the characters and ended up feeling bored throughout the film. Overall, I was left disappointed and would not recommend it.
- Sarah - 1 star - "The Magic Voyage" on VHS was such a letdown. The animation was dated and poorly executed, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in the story. The plot was lackluster and seemed disjointed, leaving me feeling unsatisfied. I had high hopes for this film, but it fell far short of my expectations.
- Michael - 2 stars - I was quite disappointed with "The Magic Voyage" on VHS. The animation quality was poor and the characters were not developed enough to make them relatable or interesting. The musical numbers felt forced and out of place, taking away from the overall experience. I would not recommend this film to others as there are much better options out there.

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