The Week Junior - UK (2022-04-23)

23 April 2022 • The Week Junior 21

Arts and entertainment

FILM

CLU

B

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

T

he Disney+ adaptation of the much-loved

fantasy book series Percy Jackson and the

Olympians now has a lead actor. Walter

Scobell will star in the series as Percy

Jackson himself. Scobell, who is 13

years old, has already acted with

some big stars in the science-fiction

film The Adam Project.

The series tells the story of the

adventures of 12-year-old Percy

Jackson, who discovers that he is

the son of the ancient Greek sea god

Poseidon. When the lightning bolt of

Zeus, the most powerful of the Greek gods, is

stolen, he must locate the bolt and stop

the US from being destroyed in a war

between the gods.

The producers (the people who

deal with the making of a film or TV

series) are working closely with Rick

Riordan, the author of the Percy

Jackson books, to make sure that

the TV series is close to his original

stories. Filming on the new TV

series is due to begin this summer in

Vancouver, Canada.

THIS WEEK’S

WATCH LIST

Sketchbook

Available on Disney+ from 27 April

A new six-part series in which Disney artists

reveal how to draw some of the most famous

creations in the company’s history. The series

will include Samantha Vilfort teaching viewers

how to create Mirabel from Encanto and Mark

Henn’s guide to Simba from The Lion King.

Polar Bear

Available on Disney+

Released to mark Earth Day on 22 April, this

new film tells the story of a mother polar bear

who uses the lessons of her younger days to

help her own cub survive in a rapidly changing

environment. The film is narrated by actor

Catherine Keener, who voiced Screenslaver in

Incredibles 2 and Ugga in the Croods films.

Samurai Rabbit:

The Usagi Chronicles

Available on Netflix from 28 April

This series tells the story of young warrior Yuichi
Usagi aiming to save his home of Neo Edo and
become a samurai warrior. The tale is inspired
by a comic called Usagi Yojimbo, which is
Japanese for “rabbit bodyguard”.
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Toys

Chili, Disney+, DVD

This film cost a lot of money to make and is

a slightly odd family film. It’s the story of a

toymaker who, when he dies, passes control of

his factory over to his not-very-nice brother,

Leland. Meanwhile, his son Leslie (played by

Robin Williams, who starred in the original

Jumanji and as the genie in Disney’s animated

version of Aladdin) is told he’ll take over when

he’s ready. However, soon the factory starts

selling weapons instead of toys, much to Leslie’s

horror. Even if you don’t enjoy the story, Toys

is worth watching at least once just for how

amazing it is to look at. The design is incredible

and it’s not surprising that it took a year just to

build the sets (background scenery) for the film.

This story of

a toy factory

is a wonder

to watch.

Walter Scobell to play Percy Jackson

Percy Jackson battles

fantasy monsters.

Walter Scobell