As reported by
William H. Macy,
Harvey Weinstein saw
The Magic Roundabout and decided to produce an American localized version. On 24 February 2006, the film was released in the United States as
Doogal and was distributed by
the Weinstein Company. The majority of the British cast's voice work was
dubbed by American celebrities such as
Chevy Chase (Train),
Jimmy Fallon (Dylan),
Whoopi Goldberg (Ermintrude),
Bill Hader (Soldier Sam), Macy (Brian), and
Jon Stewart (Zeebad). Child actor
Daniel Tay (
American Splendor) plays the titular character in the United States dub. The U.S. screenplay adaptation was handled by
Butch Hartman; the original script was heavily revised via the addition of numerous references to popular culture. Hartman would later reveal in 2017 during the
Weinstein scandal that most of his input was rewritten and rerecorded, and said of his writing in the final film that he "had maybe 3% to do with". Only two original voices remained, those of
Kylie Minogue and
Ian McKellen. Minogue, however, re-voiced her own lines with an American accent. The United States version also features
Kevin Smith as the voice of
Moose, who was originally a non-speaking character, and adds narration by
Judi Dench.
Reception The US version of the film was not screened for critics, and was panned by those who saw it. On
Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 9% based on 47 reviews. The consensus reads: "Overloaded with pop culture references, but lacking in compelling characters and plot,
Doogal is too simple-minded even for the kiddies".
Metacritic gave the film an average score of 23 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Screen Rant ranked it number 1 on its list of the twelve Worst animated movies ever made. Roger Moore of
Orlando Sentinel described it as "easily the worst kid's movie since
Spy Kids 3-D, a confusing blur of a magical quest based on an ancient British stop-motion animation TV show." Christy Lemire of
Associated Press called it "the laziest, most disheartening animated children's film ever made."
Michael Phillips of the
Chicago Tribune described the film as "Eighty-five minutes you'll never get back", and also put it at No. 5 on his Worst of 2006 list. Frank Scheck of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The key frame animation, based on three-dimensional models, is rudimentary, with none of the characters proving visually arresting." Neil Genzlinger of
The New York Times wrote, "In
Doogal setting the world right again involves a badly paced quest for three diamonds, assorted jokes that don't land, and a daringly incoherent climactic confrontation." Jami Bernard of the New York
Daily News called it "a dreadful animated movie stuffed with bad puns and little internal logic", adding that "without the famous voice cast, it has little to offer except enough whimsy to burn a hole through your stomach lining." Louise Kennedy of
The Boston Globe said that it "offers boredom and irritation for parents, needlessly scary images for tots, and, for the pubescent boys who apparently run mass culture, a flatulent blue moose. It's ugly to look at, too." Peter Hartlaub of the
San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "the computer animation in
Doogal is subpar and at times seems incomplete, with mouths that don't quite match the voices, kind of like the dubbing in the first
Mad Max movie or maybe
Rumble in the Bronx. But worse yet, the movie wastes the talent that it does have, forcing several of our greatest actors to plow through recycled gags and a sorry story line that doesn't even have the energy to offer much of a moral lesson at the end." Scott Brown of
Entertainment Weekly gave the film an F grade and said that "
Doogal is not, as you might surmise, some bizarre Scottish delicacy, but an animated movie designed with very young children in mind. And very young children should be very angry about that. Where is it written that 4-year-olds don't deserve a good story, decent characters, and a modicum of coherence? [...] Weaning toddlers on this kind of lazy garbage — where retired pop-culture references are passed off as
in-jokes for parents, where flatulence gags verge on the compulsive, where the CG lips don't even match the freaking words — can only produce a generation more addled than the last, if that's possible." Peter Howell, in his one-star review for
The Toronto Star, remarked that "in attempting to turn a tiny Anglo-Franco amusement into a full-blown Yankee extravaganza, The Weinstein Co. has managed to choke every last bit of charm out of the characters and their setting, no mean feat for a show this enchanting." Mark Olsen of
LA Weekly said "the story, dialogue and animation here really are for-kids-only." John Monaghan of the
Detroit Free Press called it "the last resort for desperate parents who have already seen
Curious George and need to get the kids out of the house." Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. == Accolades ==