SIR BILLI

Scotland, 2013, 75 minutes, Colour .
Voices of: Sean Connery, Alan Cumming, Ruby Wax, Miriam Margolyes.
Directed by Sascha Hartmann.

Sir Billi is considered the first Scottish animation film, Glasgow animation. It was made under the auspices of Sean Connery.

However, it is standard animation, and a standard storyline which will appeal only to the littlies. And that will depend on how they pick up the Scottish accents.

The story is quite simple, two police are taking beavers in captivity to send them to Norway because they are a pest in Scotland. Despite all the chatter and precautions, the truck driver with the cages has a crash – and one beaver escapes.

The action moves to 5 years later. Sir Billi is an old veterinarian, sounding like Sean Connery. He has an associate, Gordon (voiced by Alan Cumming), a goat who thinks he is a dog. Sir Billi also has a daughter living in a manor whose little son has to get to school. Sir Billi picks him up and they soon become involved in all kinds of adventures, including the American cousin of a local woman bringing glamour to the town. The comedy comes in the conversations between Sir Billi and Gordon, old friends sparring.

When some animals fall over a cliff and are hanging on to a log, everybody comes to their rescue including Sir Billi and Gordon.

There are some other eccentric characters in the film including the policeman who lost the badgers in the first place and is continuing his search as well as an admiral who does not take well to water.

The film takes its place as part of Scottish film history but its audience will be limited to those who are very young.