Big Fantastic Goodness - The BFG from Roald Dahl, Disney, and Spielberg

I needed that.

And I've been trying to see it since last summer. Fortunately, the magic from Cardiff where Roald Dahl was born 100 years ago continues.

A Bookshop in Cardiff, Wales last July

Without knowing the book, the movie stood on its own. It had the slower pace of a good story and the whimsical and irreverent childhood magic of Roald Dahl. The mystical aspects of dream-catching were beautifully portrayed. But this was no dream. It was the reality of fantasy from a child's world. The child is named Sophie, a wise and brave young girl played wonderfully by Ruby Barnhill

No spoilers here, but the breakfast with the Queen was worth the price of admission (or purchase of the DVD) alone. I haven't laughed so fully as a needed healing balm for a long time. And if Queens were more like portrayed here from a child's sense of wonder, I could be a monarchist myself! This indicates how well the film captures the child's point of view. My inner one was awakened last night.

The movie posters and Dahl's books were on display all over his native Cardiff last summer. While a true son of Wales, Dahl's parents were Norwegian. We visited the relocated Norwegian Sailors' Church where his family worshiped.

The new location is at Bae Caerdydd (Cardiff Bay) where you will also find Roald Dahl Plass (Norwegian-named, not Welsh), which is also the location of the Cardiff Rift for recharging your TARDIS or entering Torchwood if you are lucky or foolhardy enough.

The Wales Millennium Center. The inscription reads: CREU GWIR FEL GWYDR O FFWRNAIS AWEN
("Creating Truth Like Glass From Inspiration's Furnace") The English is not a translation but says:
IN THESE STONES HORIZONS SING

Upstairs in the church, is a small corner dedicated to Roald Dahl.

Wales and Dahl are sources of a lot of magic. It is good to have Dahl's books and the movies from them to keep that magic in our lives.