Garth Nix’s 1995 fantasy novel Sabriel is the first installment of the author’s Old Kingdom series, which currently comprises five books. They tell the story of two countries divided by a wall. On one side of the wall is the industrialized country, Ancelstierre, and on the other is the more traditionally fantastical Old Kingdom inhabited by magic wielders and bizarre creatures. Sabriel, the titular character of the first book, is a young adult living in Ancelstierre. Her father is the Abhorsen, a highly esteemed necromancer. When he goes missing, she must take on the duties of the Abhorsen herself to try and find him.

Accompanying her is her animal companion/sinister magical entity, Mogget, as well as an amnesiac young man dubbed Touchstone. The three of them soon learn of Kerrigor, a wicked being trying to return from the dead. Death is an interesting concept in Sabriel because it functions as, essentially, another dimension, complete with levels, each level being progressively harder to escape from.

The fascinating characters are well-balanced with an interesting and unique world, so it’s only a matter of time until this story is selected for a film adaptation. However, should said adaptation be live-action or animated? Here’s why Garth Nix’s Sabriel would function better as an animated film.

Talking Animals are an Animated Movie Staple

Undoubtedly, this trope is well-known by most. Even if one is not an animation fan, they are bound to know that a favorite trope of animation, especially kid-oriented animation, is anthropomorphic animals. Disney and Dreamworks are well-known for this, with films like Bolt, Mulan, Cinderella, Madagascar, and Kung-Fu Panda, featuring, if not centering, anthropomorphic animals. If the animals are not the center of the movie, as is the case with Mulan and Cinderella, they typically take on a sidekick-type role. They are often delegated the role of comic relief, with sprinkles of wisdom, like with Donkey in Dreamwork’s Shrek.


In the case of Sabriel, the anthropomorphic animal in question is Mogget, a supremely powerful magical entity confined in the form of a white cat. Mogget is sarcastic and antagonistic towards Sabriel, so he doesn’t truly embody the traditional animal staple aside from the comedy he brings, but his presence is ultimately beneficial. In the times in which he is freed from his confines, Mogget becomes murderous and unreasonable; but his powers can come in handy for the heroes during this state. In fact, aside from the fact that he can talk, he more or less embodies the animal companions seen in Hayao Miyazaki movies like Howl’s Moving Castle and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, where he doesn’t have such an immediate impact on the story.

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This is not to suggest that Mogget is unneeded or unwanted (his presence would be dearly missed), but that his character would fulfill the more passive type of animal companion seen in animated movies.

The Magic Used Would Look a Lot Better Animated

Obviously, within the medium of a book, there’s plenty of room for imagination and interpretation. So what the use of magic within the world of Sabriel looks like, narrator’s descriptions aside, is completely up to the reader. However, seeing how versatile the magic in Sabriel is, animation is the only option that can truly coincide with how open-ended and wondrous the magic truly is. For example, in Don Bluth’s Anastasia, Rasputin’s magic is conveyed as gaseous and fluid, all while being the same sick lime green color. However, despite his magic’s simple presentation, its effects remain versatile and mysterious, just like the magic in Sabriel. So even if an animation studio didn’t want to commit to an intricate design for the magic in Sabriel, keeping it simple would work just as well.


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Within the universe of the Old Kingdom series, there are two main types of magic: Charter and Free. Charter magic is the sort of “politically correct” or “lawful” magic wherein one uses symbols of the mystical Charter. Free magic is as chaotic as it sounds, with it being primarily used by the antagonistic forces within the Old Kingdom series. The dichotomy between these two expressions of magic would, from a visual narrative perspective, be best conveyed with animation. Magic has a solid history of being best presented in animation, whether that be through Studio Ghibli films like Howl’s Moving Castle or even newer pieces of animation like Disney’s Encanto or Frozen.

And while live-action has seen its fair share of success in depicting magic, as such is the case with the success of the Harry Potter films, there is no doubt that animation is the medium best suited for the magic of Sabriel. Especially so when one considers flops in the depiction of magic in live-action like in Dragonball Evolution. The creative freedom that animation encourages would be superior to the riskier live-action depiction.