Denmark must be one heck of a liberal place to live. Take as evidence animated comedy Terkel in Trouble adapted from a long-running Danish radio-show for kids about the life of paranoid adolescent Terkel.

Terkel is the schoolboy nerd who is sick of being bullied and his life takes a turn for the worse when he starts receiving mysterious death-threats.

This is definitely not for kids.

On its British remake the film received a ‘15’ rating (the Danish system gave it a ‘7’), which whilst denying it the audience it was designed for has left it open for the attention of an older-audience that will find and appreciate, hidden in the basic and outrageously twisted humour, the cleverer aspects of societal satire.

Terkel in Trouble deals with the issues of being a teen in typical teenage style, with violence, swearing and offensive remarks. On the surface much of the film’s jokes can be seen as obvious and simple toilet-humour, but, like its closest animation reference-point South Park, Terkel shows a certain intellectual depth as it kicks political correctness defiantly in the balls and subverts the cartoon norm.

The film tackles difficult (and dark) subject matter such as bullying, suicide, environmentalism, sex, love and racism with an honesty and warmth that in the main outshines the obvious shock-tactics which are utilised in every single scene.

The animation, whilst visually pleasing, is a little rough around the edges and won’t be winning awards for breaking new ground but accompanied by voice-overs from top British comedy talent this roughness adds to the anarchic nature of the package - anarchy being its major selling point.

Terkel played by Ade Edmondson and the other characters are expertly brought to life. Standout performances come in the form of Bill Bailey’s omnipresent narrator/music teacher Barry, and ultra-violent Uncle Stewart voiced by the ever-amusing Johnny Vegas. But it is Ben Bishop’s turn as Terkel’s best friend, council-estate home-boy Jason who’s foul-mouthed, violent approach to life is a funny yet unnerving parody of certain aspects of British youth, that steals the show.

Jason’s language is wonderfully ‘street’, his key utterances being ‘waa’evver’, ‘biatch’, ‘izzit’, and ‘what a pussy’, and it works brilliantly in a way that Catherine Tate could only dream of. Bishop also voices the hilarious bullies and juvenile dunces Nigel and Saki, who have great line after great line - after wetting Terkel with a water pistol (claiming he has wet his pants) they, through snotty-sniggers, offer the wisdom; "If this had been a real gun, we could have blown your bo-locks off."

The film is filled with a rich tapestry of dysfunctional characters. Terkel’s chain-smoking, inept, chav-tastic mother and his father who only ever says ‘no’ (which I’m sure many people can relate to) are superb and the liberal, tree-hugging teacher sees that even the seemingly righteous aren’t spared from the writers disparaging send-ups.

Despite the original being a very Danish release, Terkel show’s that the issues of youth, and wider society, are universal and with an excellent choice of cast those importing it to a UK audience have ensured quality in translation. Don’t watch Terkel in Trouble if you are easily offended, as no subject is left unscathed. If you fancy a delve into un-PC, animated anarchy then this is the film for you.

by James Thornhill