Devised to have genuine family appeal, “The Miracle Maker” combines two very different animation disciplines and adds vividly effective special effects to make this mesmerizing storytelling for all family members. As Americans are becoming more sophisticated with their appreciation of animation, hopefully they will not write this off as something just for the kiddies. It is a carefully structured and valorous attempt to tell of Christ’s life and purpose. We are finding that often animation’s most important strength lies in its ability to avoid the familiarity of the actors playing pivotal historical roles and focus the attention on the importance of what is being said by their characters. That attempt works effectively in this production. The clay animation is great!
Jesus’ baptism and God’s declaration of who He is, the devil’s 40-day temptation of the Savior, Christ’s parables and sermons, his miracles and final sacrifice are all depicted here, honestly and forthrightly. I sat in my chair amazed that ABC would have the courage to bring the greatest story ever told to America’s hearth, without watering down its message or the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah. The only curious thing is that at Jesus’ crucifixion he is referred to as “a son of God” instead of “the son of God.”
Using disciplined and textured voices, an emotional score by Oscar-winner Anne Dudley, and state-of-the-art production values, this is an entertaining, inspirational, and very well told version of the life of Christ. If the rating numbers are there, I suspect this could be an ABC seasonal tradition. Just think of how many families over the years could be inspired by this production, if we in the Christian community support ABC’s lionhearted experiment. If it isn’t successful, not only do I doubt it will again see the light of ABC, but most likely that network will be hesitant to attempt other such programming. It’s up to us, folks. We can either point a pious finger at Hollywood, or we can congratulate them when they present family friendly and, in this case, spiritually rewarding fare.