While Macaulay Culkin was releasing great movies like “My Girl,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and “Getting Even with Dad,” producers were hard at work completing his epic film “The Pagemaster.”

The story follows a young boy named Richard Tyler, played by Culkin, who is afraid of taking chances and is always analyzing the mortality risk in ordinary activities such as climbing ladders.

Fortunately, this movie is about reading and not statistics, because Richard has staggeringly high calculation errors. A storm forces Richard to take shelter at his public library where librarian Christopher Lloyd wants to show him the wonders and adventure that waits within reading books.

After falling and hitting his head, animated tidal waves of bright colors chase Richard through the library stacks and turn him into a cartoon. He is swept away into a far-off land where a wizard called The Pagemaster tells him he has to encounter three genres in order to get back home.

This film took a long three and a half years to complete, and the quality of the movie reflects this labor of love. Joe Johnston, who had previously directed “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” and “The Rocketeer,” directed the live-action sequences.

Animation director Pixote Hunt showcased his genius developed from working on “Yogi’s Treasure Hunt” and the cartoon show “Snorks.”

The voice acting features a cast of Hollywood greats.

Not only does Christopher Lloyd play the librarian, he also provides the voice for the wizard.

“Star Trek” fans will recognize the voices of Patrick Stewart and Leonard Nimoy.

Cartoon legend Frank Welker lends his voice to the horror book.

“The Pagemaster” will put you on an eighty-minute thrill ride through the adventures of reading.
The only thing that could possibly be better than watching this movie would be reading its novel adaptation.

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