FoW: The Pagemaster (1994)

Starring Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone), The Pagemaster tells the story of a boy who discovers his courage through books. Bookmarked by live-action sequences, the majority of the film is animated and utilizes the plots of several famous works of literature, as well as bits and pieces pulled from other popular stories.

Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin) is a pessimistic and frightened boy who finds himself stranded in a library during a thunderstorm. As he explores, he discovers a curious group of paintings on the ceiling. You might recognize the stories: Moby Dick, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Treasure Island, and an unspecified story of a Knight fighting a dragon. In the center is the Pagemaster himself, voiced and played by the incomparable Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future). The ceiling then proceeds to melt and consumes everything in its path - turning all of it into animation, including Richard Tyler himself. With the help of Fantasy (Whoopi Goldberg), Adventure (Patrick Stewart), and Horror (Frank Welker), Richard Tyler must find the library exit to get back home.

At each step, Richard Tyler faces obstacles from the stories represented on the rotunda ceiling of the library. The pirates from Treasure Island, led by notorious Long John Silver (Jim Cummings), are a motley crew that lose Richard's library card and nearly shipwreck them. Moby Dick's Captain Ahab (George Hearn) does succeed in shipwrecking them in his wild pursuit of the white whale. Penultimately, the group finds themselves in the house of Dr. Jekyll, only to bear witness to his transformation into Mr. Hyde. Several other stories are referenced, such as Gulliver's Travels and several fairytale stories.

The dragon, near the end, serves as a sort of antagonist for Richard Tyler and his friends. In most ways, the dragon is the final test, wherein Richard must use what he has learned and summon his courage to defeat the beast. The dragon itself is classically designed, incredibly medieval, and could be quite fearsome were it not for the massive amount of books in its stomach, hinting that its diet might not be especially carnivorous. In the end, with the other featured antagonists, the dragon does appear momentarily to offer its congratulations to Richard for making it to the library exit. In this case, the dragon is not necessarily a villain or antagonist, but a participant providing the near-final step in Richard Tyler's journey. Check out the trailer for The Pagemaster below:

Did you watch The Pagemaster?