In Grand Prix of Europe, accident-prone Edda dreams of becoming a race car driver. She gets her wish when she secretly subs in for racing champ Ed after she accidentally causes his injury. There is a baddie causing trouble and arguments between the two mouse leads. But this cheer-worthy pic promotes friendship, teamwork and family.
Edda longs to be a racing champion.
Of course, even this starry-eyed mouse can admit that her dream is a long shot, if not impossible. After all, she’s nothing but the accident-prone hired help at her dad’s run-down amusement park. The closest she ever gets to racing is crashing the park’s go-karts or riding the merry-go-round after hours.
But a dream is a dream.
Edda has studied racing films and mentally calculated every turn and every hairpin corner on Europe’s racing circuit. She knows all of the various circuit racer’s habits and ticks behind the wheel. Her favorite, of course, is Ed Euromaus, the Grand Prix champion.
Ed has won the championship for four years running, and if he wins this year, he’ll be the best of all time. Edda has her bedroom wall lined with Ed’s pictures (not that she thinks he’s cute or anything).
Anyway, Edda has bigger things to worry over right now. You see, her dad may be about to lose his park. The place has been in need of repair for some time. And if they can’t come up with some cash in a hurry, dad’s debtors will foreclose.
Then, Edda gets an idea.
If she could hand out ads at the nearby Grand Prix racing headquarters, that might bring in enough business to make a difference. So Edda grabs the printed fliers and flies.
However, while handing out fliers, Edda accidentally stumbles into the garage where Ed Euromaus’ car is being stored. And she, uh, accidentally slips behind the wheel of the famous car. And she accidentally starts the vehicle rolling toward the street outside, which accidentally causes an accident for Ed himself.
With a strained arm, Ed can’t drive. And if he reports the injury, he’ll be disqualified. And he’ll lose his chance at a fifth Grand Prix championship that starts tomorrow.
Oh, brother! What can be done?
Hmm, have you noticed that Ed and Edda are about the same size? In fact, the two mice look an awful lot alike. Oh, and have you heard that Edda has always dreamed of being a race car driver herself?
Maybe a secret bargain can be worked out—at least until Ed’s arm starts feeling better.
It’s worth a try.
Edda’s dad is a loving father who tends to bluster a bit over his clumsy, disaster-causing daughter. He realizes, however, that he could have been more supportive when it came to Edda’s racing dreams. Dad then risks his park to help her.
Edda also comes to realize everything that her father has sacrificed to see them through difficult times. Edda’s mom passed away a few years before, and Dad dedicated all he had to care for Edda and maintain the park that Mom loved. Edda makes some selfish choices, but she declares that any good thing she receives will go to Dad and his amusement park. “I’m gonna save the park, Mum,” Edda quietly prays. “My way.”
At one point, Edda bemoans the fact that “You can’t be great and sweet.” But a fellow amusement park staffer looks at her and says, “You are.”
We learn that Ed is an orphan. And when he was young, Ed was hurt when all of his friends were adopted and he was left behind. His hurt caused him to push others away; but Ed decides to change that, embracing potential friends around him. In fact, Ed eventually turns away from a sure race victory to help a friend in need.
A race winner gives his prize to someone else “for standing up for what is right.” The story’s hidden baddie receives a comeuppance.
One of the amusement park employees is a shortsighted mole who uses a crystal ball to tell fortunes. However, her predictions—generally widely varying outcomes that never happen—are used in the film for humor’s sake. For instance, she predicts that Edda will either have a terrible accident or … have waffles for dinner. To which Edda says she’ll “hope for waffles.” In fact, the only prediction that comes true is the fortune teller’s encouragement that Edda will someday drive a race car.
A black raven racer named Nachtkraab has a mean look and dark demeanor. Edda privately calls him a “servant of darkness.” But later, she berates herself for judging someone so harshly for his voice and appearance. Nachtkraab turns out to be a sincere and caring individual. Edda apologizes for her thoughts and actions.
Edda looks at a photo of her dad lovingly hugging her pregnant mom.
This being a racing movie, there are a number of scenes featuring speeding vehicles and potential perils. When Edda drives Ed’s car for the first time, for instance, she almost crashes into a construction site. Ed dangles from the speeding vehicle, barely avoiding getting impaled by sharp rebar spikes. He ends up with a sprained arm. In other scenes, racers spin out, cars flip, vehicles launch over huge ramps and crash and swerve off road (though no one is seriously injured). (Kids crash in a pileup of go-karts, too.)
In fact, specially designed traps are woven into the four Grand Prix races as part of the racing challenge. Lightning zaps at the racers, giant snow boulders roll down a mountain pass to envelope drivers, and a gigantic mechanical Kraken lashes its tentacles at a cliffside roadway.
One of the racers uses his own specially designed traps in an attempt to win the race. He cheats by using slippery goop, puffs of noxious gas, laser-blasting magnetic drones and the like to send other drives veering off course.
We also see someone start a chemical fire. A racer burns himself reaching into cheese fondue with his bare hand. Edda uses her Dad’s amusement park vehicle to give chase to laser-firing drones and stop a tumbling train from smashing into a large bleacher full of race fans.
No profanity, but the dialogue contains one use each of the following exclamations: “Who in the high-octane heck are you,” “Oh my gosh,” “What the heck,” “Cheeseballs” and “Sheesh.”
Edda’s father sighingly sits down at the kitchen table with a bottled beverage, but the drink looks more colorful and soda-like than anything alcoholic.
Edda is acting pretty selfishly when she starts driving Ed’s car while it’s parked in the garage. She causes his accident and never really gets any consequence for her eager but foolish choice.
There’s not a lot of potty humor in the story mix, but Edda does make note of how well she knows Ed: “Even down to how you scratch your butt.” And someone says a fellow racer looks like “day-old derriere.” A camel character sneezes a glob of goop at the camera. Someone is called a “poo-poo head.” And an individual proclaims, “That guy thinks his exhaust doesn’t stink!”
In case you didn’t know, Edda Euromausi and Ed Euromaus are actually a pair of real-world mascots for Germany’s largest theme park, the Europa-Park Resort. And now this decades-running mascot duo has been given its own headlining gig in a kiddy racing movie.
To the average American, Ed and Edda’s names likely don’t ring any bells or wave any checkered flags. But is their movie, Grand Prix of Europe, worth a matinee visit and a bucket of popcorn?
Could be. It really all comes down to the ages of your movie-loving pit crew.
The simple fact is that Grand Prix of Europe has been geared down to the “littles” level. It’s a fresh-faced flick that keeps its action light and first-time-in-a-movie-theater friendly. The animation is bright. The movie’s “baddie” does lightly mean things, without being terribly destructive or scary.
And in the end, the biggest conflicts are between the regularly grousing Edda and Ed. They banter over the fact that Ed has kept potential friends at arm’s length. They argue about who’s the better driver or whose turn it is behind the wheel. (You know, the sorta stuff that kids tend to argue about.)
The moviegoing cherry on top for parents is that the characters are voiced by a recognizable winner’s circle of a cast (including Gemma Arterton, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Hayley Atwell).
Now, I won’t suggest that this mouse mascot-led pic is the greatest thing since sliced cheese. But Grand Prix of Europe is cute, it’s action filled, and it lands with nice lessons about the value of friendship, the need to not judge others and the importance of loving and supporting your family members. In short, it’s the sort of stuff that parents of young kids (as well as the kiddos themselves) can cheer.
Oh, and I should also note that the film doesn’t have any coarse language, it goes light on the potty humor and it avoids unnecessary social messages aimed at youngsters. That’s a refreshing lane change all on its own.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
