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The Pagemaster Photos

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Movie Info

A storm forces frightened Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin) inside a nearby library for shelter. Mr. Dewey (Christopher Lloyd), the librarian, sees that Richard needs an adventure and tries to give the boy a book, but all Richard wants is a phone. Before he can call his parents (Ed Begley Jr., Mel Harris), Richard slips on the floor, hits his head and passes out. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a fantasy land populated by famous literary characters.

Rating:

G
Genre:

fantasy, kids and family
Original Language:

English
Director:

Maurice Hunt, Joe Johnston
Producer:

Paul Gertz, David Kirschner
Writer:

David Kirschner, David Casci, Ernie Contreras
Release Date (Streaming):

Jan 3, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA):

$12.0M
Runtime:

1h 15m
Production Co:

Turner Pictures, 20th Century Fox
Sound Mix:

Stereo

Cast & Crew

Macaulay Culkin
Richard Tyler

Christopher Lloyd
Mr. Dewey and The Pagemaster

Ed Begley Jr.
Alan Tyler

Mel Harris
Claire Tyler

Canan J. Howell
Neighborhood kid

Alexis Kirschner
Neighborhood kid

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for The Pagemaster

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Critic Reviews for The Pagemaster

All Critics (19) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (15)

The Pagemaster is the kind of movie first-grade teachers would have popped into the VCR in the 1990s to kill time on a rainy afternoon.

July 15, 2018 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…

Christy Lemire
ChristyLemire.com
Built on a wispy premise better suited to the realm of TV, The Pagemaster plays like a slickly produced afternoon special.

December 4, 2007

Brian Lowry
Variety
Mediocre, really, this mixture of real actors and animation.

June 24, 2006 | Full Review…

Derek Adams
Time Out
A pallid film framed at the start and finish by live action and mostly composed of cheap-looking animation.

May 20, 2003 | Rating: 2/5

Caryn James
New York Times
In this age of technology, a not-so-subtle plug for a classic method of mental stimulation comes as a pleasant surprise.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Alison Macor
Austin Chronicle
This clever, often engaging, and always fast-paced motion picture uses the visual medium to encourage its viewers to reach out with their imagination.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Narrated with a rhythm that prevents that one can get bored, the moral of 'The Pagemaster', which invokes the power of books and reading. [Full Review in Spanish]

August 23, 2019 | Full Review…

Sergio Benítez
Espinof
Weak Macaulay Culkin fantasy with some cartoon violence.

January 1, 2011 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Alex Orner
Common Sense Media
Weak Macaulay Culkin fantasy with some cartoon violence.

December 14, 2010 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Renee Schonfeld
Common Sense Media
The film rests on its initial ingenuity and fails to develop the concept in interesting or surprising ways.

December 4, 2007 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

TV Guide
Quote not available.

August 11, 2005 | Rating: 2/5

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Quote not available.

October 8, 2004 | Rating: 2/5

Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (19)

Audience Reviews for The Pagemaster

Jun 06, 2011

Kids will like it and the animation is nice, plus some good acting, but overall its not the most memorable animated film made

Michael E Super Reviewer
May 20, 2011

(Relativley short review) Like "A Troll in Central Park", "The Pagemaster" is a family movie that most will hate, but I actually like. I like the lesson, I like the characters and I like the plot. The humor wasn't funny, but apart from that it was good. Like always, we start with the bad. This movie had WAY too many book puns. What's worse? They weren't even funny and they got old VERY quickly. It would have been a better movie without them. Still this movie had good. It has a good lesson, that kids should face their fears and that when they do, they'll come out stronger. Kids will never apply it, but it's a good lesson. The main character is someone you can really root for. He's a nerd and a coward, but he has a lot of potential too be something more. You'll be rooting for him the whole way. The books were very interesting characters too, and Whoopi Goldberg did a great job as Fantasy. "Adventure" did a nice job too. Finally, the plot was very original. I think it's good that hollywood is getting kids too read. This is a very good introduction to some of literature's greatest classics. Overrall, a pretty good film. Not great, but good.

Marc L Super Reviewer
Feb 22, 2011

All The Adventure Your Imagination Can Hold. Not a great or horrible movie! The beginning of this movie is excellent with tremendous sound and some nice humor, but once the film changes into animation it quickly loses its appeal. However, although this film is mostly disappointing, not all is lost. The story, for all its flaws, wastes no time in getting started, and there is a certain nostalgia surrounding the film for the endless stream of, mostly mediocre, but still harmless, cartoons of the 90s, when computer-generated animation was yet to be exploited. Overall, just not memorable enough or able to compete with the great animated films of the last dozen years. This is the story of a young boy named Richard Tyler, who finds shelter from a storm inside a nearby library. Tyler slips and is knocked unconscious while exploring a rotunda in the library. Upon awakening he is led on a journey through conflicts and events that resemble fictional stories, keeping him from finding the exit from the library.

Manu G Super Reviewer
Sep 06, 2010

A fantastic fantasy adventure for kids. Culkin gets turned into a cartoon and has to find his way back home from the book lands, and find his courage along the way. It's really a cool movie, and kids will love it.

Aj V Super Reviewer