The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island

"I can not express to you enough how much I adore the fact that this sequel actually has the characters grow as time goes on. It's an absolute breath of fresh air to see children get bigger and change when the movies timeliness takes place a year after the last one. Way too many animated movies go for the cop out when it comes to sequels and keeps the children as is. Not this one. Both the youngest siblings were noticeably older while the eldest changed a little to show teenage growth in a year. I appreciated it far more than I probably should have, but I've seen far too many sequels that are supposed to have a passage of time take no effort in aging their characters. I salute it for that. And the fact they did improve their animation given the time. Now for the movie as a whole. It is definitely a continuation of the first. They really dive into the self-sustaining aspect that the first movie established with the kids. Only this time it's in a new setting. Honestly, I'm not as big a fan of this storyline, and I didn't even like it in the books either. I always considered it a boring crossover before the real good stories began. I was a mystery fan as a kid, so I thrived off book series like Boxcar Children. It made me sad they ended the series here, but I still rewatch this one when I watch the first. While the first is great beginning and worth the watch, this isn't needed but still one you want to see. Overall, it's a fun continuation that's worth seeing, not the story fans are looking for and craving from a Boxcar Children story but they wanted to stay true to the book series and I understand that. Still, if you liked the first, you'll enjoy seeing this. Especially since the animation improved. Now, they can interact with their environment smoother. As for my other Boxcar Children fans we can always hope someone else will take over the series someday. For now, we can enjoy these simple realistic fiction movies that the whole family can watch. "