Adventure Awaits

A storybook adventure comes to life in My Father’s Dragon. The new animated film tells a moving story about friendship. It’s based on a Newbery honor–winning children’s novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett.

Jacob Tremblay, 16, stars as Elmer Elevator. Elmer’s mother loses the family store and they move to a new city. Eager to help her, Elmer runs off to Wild Island. He looks for Boris the dragon, voiced by Gaten Matarazzo. Elmer hopes the dragon can help him earn some money.

The relationship between Elmer and Boris is at the heart of the film. Jacob told TIME for Kids that his favorite part of voicing Elmer was working side-by-side in the studio with Matarazzo. “That’s something that you don’t usually do with animation,” he says. “To be able to work with Gaten on some scenes was so powerful.”

Elmer and Boris meet many different animals together. Each has its own personality. One is a whale named Soda.

If Jacob could voice another character in the film, which one would he pick? “I’d love to play Soda,” he says. “She’s just so bubbly and fun. I think that’d be a great time, because Elmer—he’s kind of serious.”

According to Jacob, the film offers valuable lessons. “It’s really important to care for your friends, and to really care about their feelings,” he says. “Because the thing about Elmer is that he’s so focused on himself, he completely forgets that Boris has his own ambitions.”

My Father’s Dragon can be streamed on Netflix.