Miami Herald - Children Recieve Toys at 'Water Horse' Peek (2007)
Miami Herald
18th December 2007
By Fanny Olmo
Some low income children from Miami received a gift that most parents would be hard-pressed to deliver: a chance to attend a special screening of the movie The Water Horse: The Legend of the Deep and to meet its main star before the show who handed them some toys.
With 11 days before the release of The Water Horse, the film's star Alex Etel made an appearance at AMC CocoWalk in Coconut Grove to present a special screening of the film and help kids enrolled in the after-school program of Amigos for Kids.
Seven-year-old Jorje Santana attends the after-school program of Amigos for Kids, a nonprofit that cares for less-fortunate and abused children. He was there to get some Christmas gifts.
Jorje said being able to watch The Water Horse and getting some toys on the same day is like a dream come true.
''I would like to ask Santa to buy me some toys because my parents can't buy them,'' he said.
He had a specific message for Alex, 13.
''I would like to say to Alex that his movie is the movie I have always wanted to see,'' Jorje said.
But unlike Alex, who said he wanted money for Christmas, 11-year-old Manuel Alvarez, also part of the Amigos for Kids after-school program, did not ask for much.
''Whatever they give me I am happy with,'' Manuel said.
Hours before the special screening of the film, Alex signed film posters and gave out toys with Reggaeton singer Miguelito, 8. Later, Alex walked down the blue carpet where numerous press members eagerly waited for him as bubbles flowed in the air.
''My character is obsessive and troubled because his dad had gone off to war,'' Alex said, describing his role in the film.
The film features a boy named Angus MacMorrow, who takes home a mysterious object he finds on the beach. Afterward he realizes it is a magical egg and finds himself raising a paranormal creature: a mythical water horse.
Angus and the horse, whom he names Crusoe, form a friendship and go on a journey of discovery.
Alex, a Manchester, England, native, has starred in two films. He made his first appearance as a child actor in the 2005 family film Millions, directed by Danny Boyle.
''I can't really remember much in the last film because it happened five years ago,'' he said. ``But [The Water Horse and Millions] are two different films.''
The difference, Alex said, is in the special effects.
Water Horse was created by Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, the special and visual effects wizards behind the Lord of The Rings trilogy and King Kong.
The movie is taken from the book The Water Horse, written by Dick King Smith.
For Alex, acting in The Water Horse was no easy task. He had to get into cold water and to perform without the actual horse because it's created with special effects.
''It was a challenge for me working through the whole film,'' he said.
Alex, who is being taken to 10 cities on a 17-day tour for special screenings, describes himself as a boy who enjoys sleeping and playing with his Xbox.
The Water Horse will be released Dec. 25.
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