‘The King of Kings’ is not just for kids

“My Dear Children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was.”

Thus began The Life of Our Lord, a private manuscript written by Charles Dickens at about the same time he was working on David Copperfield. Running at just over 100 pages (a trifle for Dickens), The Life of Our Lord is a pared down, simplified retelling of the story of Christ inspired mostly by the Gospel of St. Luke. Dickens penned the tale for his young children and is said to have read it aloud to them every Christmas, never intending for any other audience to ever see or hear it. Of course, decades after Dickens’ passing, the story would eventually see print, but it’s important to remember the original intentions of the work when considering anything adapted from it.

Which brings us to The King of Kings, the new animated feature from Angel Studios, the same folks behind such live action films as Sound of Freedom and Cabrini. The movie begins with Charles Dickens himself attempting to perform a recital of A Christmas Carol before a theater audience, only to be constantly interrupted by his overly rambunctious son Walter, who very noisily acts out the exploits of King Arthur backstage with the aid of his rotund feline sidekick. The performance ruined, Dickens considers punishing the boy, but his wife Catherine suggests the writer instead try to lure Walter away from his obsession with the Round Table by offering him another story about a king even greater than Arthur.

Walter doesn’t believe such a thing is possible but reluctantly agrees to give his father’s story a listen, but only with the caveat that he be allowed to abandon it once boredom sets in. However, as the tale unfolds, Walter becomes so emotionally involved in the life of Jesus that he demands his father finish the story, no matter how upsetting it might get. Sure, it’s a direct lift from the narrative structure of The Princess Bride, but it works, and it’s a clever way for the film to give kids in the audience someone to identify with and help ease them through the telling of the Gospel.

Ease is the appropriate word here. Like Dickens’ book itself, The King of Kings is aimed directly at younger children. As such, some of the harsher elements of the biblical narrative are toned down so as not to upset tender sensibilities. The slaughter of the innocents is mentioned but not shown, Jesus is scourged but his body is obscured by the pillar he is tied to, Jesus is nailed to the cross but his hands and feet are ever so slightly blurred, and so on. Except for perhaps the episode with the demon-possessed pigs (you know the one), everything is portrayed in a manner meant to avoid potentially horrifying young moviegoers.

The animation follows suit. There is nothing in The King of Kings equivalent to the overt, sometimes jarring artistry of The Miracle Maker or to the sometimes hyperactive Disney-esque spectacle of The Prince of Egypt. That’s not to say The King of Kings has no style of its own as plenty of scenes display an artfulness to them; the one in which Jesus calls on Peter to walk on the water amidst a raging storm coming immediately to mind. It’s just to point out that the movie purposely adopts a more traditionally kid friendly look so the art doesn’t distract young minds from the story.

All of this might suggest there’s nothing for adults in The King of Kings, but that’s not true. As the story moves along, not only does Walter become invested in it, but he also starts to imagine he is part of it, with he and his cat traveling side by side with Jesus and the disciples. For instance, when Jesus heals the blind man outside the temple and asks him not to tell anyone, Walter is there and can’t stop himself from loudly exclaiming to everyone around what he just saw Jesus do. For us jaded oldsters who might be overly familiar with some of these stories, it’s a nice reminder not to depersonalize them. We should be just as invested in the Gospels as Walter. So, yes, The King of Kings is primarily made for young children, but there’s a little something for everybody.

The King of Kings opens in theaters everywhere on April 11.