The movie revolves around Mustafa embarking on a truly mysterious journey, ending with Mustafa returning home 12 years later with his housekeeper and young free daughter. Each of them appears to be facing a mysterious path as the trio together avoid the authorities who fear this fact.
With top-shelf talent like Bill Plympton, Tomm Moore and Nina Paley on board, it's no surprise that the segments are as attractive as they are different.
Unfortunately the drawn-out, drably rendered framing device that strings together these flights of fancy does them no service, and the devout detours merely detract from the minimal appeal of the story.
For audiences interested in an earnest, inspirational story, full of timeless messages and beautiful animation, this is a lovely reminder of how to live life with purpose and joy.
The eight independently produced vignettes, culled from Gibran's larger work and strung together by director Roger Allers to create a storyline where there was none, are an entertaining lot.
The eight vignettes are visual magic compared to the Disney-lite narrative framing, so the whole thing eventually feels like it is dragging. This will work on dvd though, where fans of the original material can choose which scenes to watch at leisure.