This short has been nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short. There will be mild spoilers ahead:

This short is, at first glance, nothing special. The animation is good but standard. This is based on a children's book and was adapted by the author. The voice work is good, the story is good and it's basically a very charming and entertaining short. It doesn't start out as if it will be anything extraordinary. Just a nice short aimed at kids.

It starts out slow and builds as it goes. By the end, I realized that it was a more substantive piece than I'd expected. The end is really very good and Timothy Spall brings just the right touch to the dragon. That and the narration are the most impressive voice performances, though all the work is good. The principal theme is the value of kindness, friendship and teamwork, as the animals have to work together to save the witch from the dragon.

This short has been released on a DVD with some extras. The DVD is very nice, the short is well worth watching and both are recommended.

As always, Christmas was an interesting time of year for TV programmes and films as there are always some treasures and some disappointments. While I did like but was disappointed in The Snowman and the Snowdog of the animated short films(especially as I adore the original so much) I got so much pleasure from Room on the Broom as I did with The Gruffalo and its sequel from previous years. There is very little to criticise actually here, but while the dragon is very charismatic- some may say too much so- I did feel that he wasn't quite scary enough considering the type of character he is. Timothy Spall does voice him very well though, even if it is somewhat different to the roles I associate him with.

The animation on the other hand is just wonderful. Detailed and vibrantly coloured, I loved the balance between hand-drawn and computer-generated animation, meaning that anybody who is fond of either style(admittedly I am more a hand-drawn person myself) will find Room on the Broom a treat. It is not just the quality of it that impresses, it is also to do with how much it does in defining the characters and story which I found incredibly compelling to watch. Thankfully the story and characters are done very well indeed on their own. The story is very charming and heart-warming with some touching moments, true it is simple but considering the target audience and the book itself, of which Room on the Broom is remarkably faithful to this was appropriate. Despite the short running time, Room on the Broom never felt rushed.

As for the characters, they are engaging and likable. Again, like the story they are simple but all the better for it. The witch was especially true to this, and all the critters are very cute without being overly-so. The dialogue has similar rhyming rhythms, in how poetic, gentle and bouncing-like they are, to those of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child. They are also written respecting those of the book and written in a way that doesn't make them childish to an adult yet also easy for the children to understand. The voice acting is excellent. Simon Pegg of course stands out in restrained but dynamic mode as the narrator though he also has freedom to have some droll moments as well. Rob Brydon, Gillian Anderson, David Walliams, Sally Hawkins and Martin Clunes voice their characters wonderfully.

I will say thought that Timothy Spall is not quite as good, and this has nothing to do with his voicing actually at all, he does give his all to make the most of it, but more that his character doesn't quite off as well as the rest. In conclusion, I loved it and found it hard to deny its charm. And I imagine that child, adult or family will feel the same. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I find it amusing when adults review a piece meant for children. They yearn for a certain type of clever, complication and pace. This short is perfect in every way. I am the mom of two 3 year old boys who see themselves climbing mountains, racing motorcycles, putting out fires and driving excavators daily.

Like most, the holidays had wrecked and exhausted us so we sat down as a family to watch TV. These boys don't get a lot of TV and especially not TV movies- Disney is still too scary and they just don't get most of it, so no Disney. Their TV is usually about 22-30 min in the morning while we drink coffee and check our email etc. So we ended up one day with this short on our TV.

It was magical for the boys. It didn't move too fast so there was time for questions and answers as things were happening on the screen. They had time to read facial expressions! And best of all, the dragon wasn't too scary. They could actually watch it without worry and understand the story instead of "scary dragon gonna eat people".

They understood not wanting to give up your seat, the kindness of the witch, how it's hard to have new friends sometimes, and that working together brings us all closer. They now see the foreshadowing of the mushrooms, the individual characters of the animals and instead of having only a few laugh out loud moments, after multiple viewings, they laugh out loud many times throughout with little comments thrown in.

You can't beat every morning waking up to "Momma, I want to watch the witch".

As a parent, you won't find a better 25 minutes of TV for your little ones. The story, the animation, the VO, the characters and especially the music is just the most lovely of combinations. I would urge everyone to watch it with a 3-4 year old!