Family video: Animal magic

Published: June 5, 2006

"Duma," directed by Carroll Ballard, starring Alex Michaeletos, Hope Davis, Campbell Scott and Eamonn Walker (PG, 101 minutes, $19.97 DVD).

This wasn't a box-office hit, but fans of "The Black Stallion" and "Fly Away Home" won't be disappointed. Director Carroll Ballard, so skilled in capturing a child's deep bond with the natural world, again takes the helm in this story about "Duma," a cheetah cub that forms an attachment with a young South African boy. The boy, Xan, ultimately realizes that the best way to show love for his spotted friend is to set him free.

The magic here is in the natural world: the close-ups of the cheetah and the boy, played simply and persuasively by newcomer Alexander Michaeletos, who was raised in South Africa and grew up with these animals.

- Nancy Churnin