Animated ‘David’ is a Delight and Goes Beyond the Tale You Know

If you were kid who grew up in the church, you no doubt heard the story of David and Goliath and in my case, in the form of flannel graphs. David was small, Goliath huge. Using his slingshot, David killed Goliath and became a hero.

Similar versions of that famous tale has been repeated for children from VeggieTales to Hanna-Barbera’s The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible. But often, the story ends just after he defeats Goliath. By now, as an adult, you know that there is so much more to the story.

David and his mother, Nitzevet *(Angel)*

The David movie was made from Sunrise Animation Studios, a company you’ve probably never heard of before. They are the “David” in the animation world going against the “Goliaths” like Disney, Pixar and Illumination. But truth be told, I think this little picture is up for the challenge.

David will surprise a lot of people as it strikes a fine balance in many ways. Like the best Disney films, David isn’t a kids’ movie. It’s a movie for families. David isn’t dry or boring nor is it slapstick silly either. David is a musical with some really beautiful songs, touching moments and a good amount of comedy as well. If the only version of the David story you remember is from your days in Sunday school, you will learn a lot.

David has been a passion project of Phil Cunningham for 30 years now and it shows. He must be thrilled to see it finally come to fruition with the help of co-director and scriptwriter, Brent Dawes. The end product is beautiful with top-notch animation and characters that resonate.

Young David (voiced by Brandon Engman and later Phil Wickham) is the youngest of eight sons. While his brothers are busy doing more “important things”, David serves as a shepherd boy for his father. However, his life changes quickly when his family is visited by the prophet Samuel (Brian Stivale) who instructs the family that this shepherd boy has been chosen by God to become the future king.

Not surprisingly, this does not sit well with David’s bros. Nor does the warning that King Saul (Adam Michael Gold) must not find out about God’s plan or David’s family will be put at risk. David doesn’t think that he is up for the task, but his mother, Nitzevet (Miri Mesika) comforts him with wise counsel and his younger sister Zeruiah (Sloan Lucas Muldown and later Ashley Boettcher) think he’s the best.

Jesse (David’s father), David and Nitzevet (David’s mother) *(Angel)*

David is summoned to Saul’s palace where he is tasked to play music to help soothe the troubled king. There he meets Saul’s son Jonathan (Mark Jacobson) and they strike up a friendship.

Then the story goes into familiar territory with the introduction of Goliath (Kamran Nikhad) and David becomes a hero much to Saul’s chagrin. The more David is praised and inspires others with his bravery, Saul’s anger gets out of control forcing David to flee.

As much as I like David and found the movie to be very inspiring, I was a little disappointed with a few things. The movie does not explore much of David’s friendship with Jonathan. Although some of the earlier scenes are perfectly acceptable for younger viewers, as the story progresses, it features a few scary scenes as some somber moments too. Nothing is very graphic, but if your kids are sensitive to such things, I encourage you to see the movie first before taking them to see the movie.

I also found the third act to be a little confusing. This might be partially due to a little rearranging of the order of events told in the Bible. For instance, Bathsheba never enters into the picture (and honestly, it would be inappropriate anyway). However, the movie ends with a chorus of both David and his followers exclaiming that they “will not be afraid” of what the future holds and it’s actually a little chilling.