While Charles Band and Moonbeam films tend to be silly on occasion, they’re hardly ever bad. “Leapin Leprechauns” was goofy but fun and while “Dragon World” can be occasionally silly, it’s kind of a fun film in its own right. It’s a version of “King Kong” that doesn’t really opt for violence, so much as it tries to tell a story about friendship. Director Ted Nicolao obviously has little budget for the film, so when we see the film’s creature Yowler the Dragon, most times it’s only just his head and most of his neck. On long shots it’s claymation super imposed over live action footage.
Regardless, “Dragon World” is a fun low budget film that I’d love to see reworked as a big budget feature someday. “Dragon World” is another Moonbeam film about the importance of family and is set in Scotland. It’s almost as if the crew had spare time after shooting “Leapin’ Leprechauns” so they opted to shoot this film for extra cash. “Dragon World” is tale of young Johnny, a little boy who lost his parents (the cause of their deaths are never really explained) and is now orphaned. He’s sent to Scotland to live with his widowed grandfather. His grandfather is welcoming of Johnny, even opting to quit alcohol when Johnny explains how it can make people crash on the road. Johnny goes to live in a humongous castle his grandpa owns and is cared for by him and the lovable house maid Mrs. Cosgrove.
They’re oddly stuck in nineteenth century Scotland as Johnny asks for hamburgers and pizza much to their confusion. Johnny wishes for a friend in the local wishing tree, and oddly enough a baby Dragon emerges from the mist. Johnny brings it home and the family adopts it naming it Yowler. Years later, Johnny has an inexplicable Scottish accent and seems to also be living in the nineteenth century, too. He has no idea how cameras work, knows nothing about technology, and can’t identify the helicopter that lands in his castle. When a local documentarian and his daughter land in the castle to film a segment for their show, they discover Yowler. Much to their shock, they befriend the dragon and Johnny, however the documentarian Bob wants to take Yowler and make him a tourist attraction.
Since the castle is going to be seized by the government in thirty days, Johnny agrees and is saddened to see Yowler is dying in captivity. But the local tycoon won’t allow Yowler to go, and is insistent on suing Johnny if he tries to take Yowler back home. Surely enough a break out occurs, and “Dragon World” makes good on its promise of light hearted fun and innocence. It’s bereft of violence and sexuality, and garners a sweet story in the first half about a city boy being raised in a large castle. “Dragon World” has its heart in the right place and does a good job of showing Yowler with crafty editing and passable claymation. It’s a very good Charles Band family film in the vein of “Prehysteria!”