There is a new grand champion of the animated Biblical epic film genre — a new king of kings.

With a $19+ million debut at the domestic box office, Angel Studios’ The King of Kings shattered the 27-year-old opening weekend record held by DreamWorks Animation’s Prince of Egypt ($14.5 million). The film also earned a rare A+ CinemaScore rating from surveyed moviegoers.

Count this Catholic Register writer among the opening weekend audience for this film. I was charmed by this adaptation of Charles Dickens’ The Life of Our Lord, which the famed English novelist wrote for his three young children in the 1840s to teach them about Jesus.

I found myself reflecting on what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 8:13 about how we “must become as little children” or “ye shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

How fitting that The King of Kings tells its story about the life of Christ with the framing device of Dickens telling a bedtime story to his son Walter Dickens, his fourth and youngest child at the time (he would father 10 children).

We meet Walter as an innocent, wide-eyed boy obsessed with King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. He struts around with off-the-wall energy brandishing his little wooden sword and knighting his cat Willa as Sir Lancelot.

Charles, exasperated by his boy’s zany devotion to the Arthurian legend, is urged by his wife Catherine to bond with their son by telling him the greatest story ever told — a tale about the King of Kings.

Walter becomes increasingly enraptured and emotional about the example, miracles and sacrifice of Christ as Charles charismatically recounts the major events of Jesus’ life from His humble birth in a Bethlehem manger to His glorious triumph over death itself. The boy, his father and the cat all enter into the story and imagine witnessing the Biblical events firsthand.

The young boy beholds Jesus being bathed in heavenly light after His baptism in the river by John the Baptist. He watches in wonder as Christ makes the blind see, calms the raging storm, feeds a crowd of over 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes and raises Lazarus from the dead.

The immersion of Walter, Charles and Willa into the Gospel accounts is handled very creatively and tastefully. Sure, there are a couple of wackier sequences with the cat, but those comedic moments included for the younger members of the audience never derail the emotional resonance of the story. The climax — Jesus being arrested, tried and executed — is accorded the proper dramatic weight.

In fact, the presence of the boy and the cat will likely make certain scarier moments — Jesus driving out an unclean spirit — more manageable for children.

I, a 32-year-old man, enjoyed The King of Kings for its earnestness, visual splendour from South Korea’s Mofac Animation and appealing voiceover performances.

But this film was truly envisioned for the youngest among us. I have a niece who recently celebrated her first birthday. I have told my sister that this movie will be such a great resource in helping little Nora become acquainted with Jesus and learn why the King of Kings chose to be a servant willing to die for our sins as an innocent man.

Angel Studios is determined for underprivileged children to have an opportunity to see The King of Kings as it launched a crowdfunding campaign in advance of the theatrical release on April 11. The credits also include testimonials from kids who saw the film and an invitation for moviegoers to help other kids — a QR code is on the screen — secure a ticket to the multiplex.

Kenneth Branagh (Charles Dickens), Uma Thurman (Catherine Dickens), Pierce Brosnan (Pilate), Ben Kingsley (Caiaphas the High Priest) and Forest Whitaker (Peter) are some of the famous names in the cast. Oscar Isaac, the voice of Jesus Christ, portrayed Joseph nearly 20 years ago in The Nativity Story, near the start of what has become a notable acting career. Roman Griffin Davis, who burst onto the scene with his great adolescent performance in 2019’s JoJo Rabbit, shines with ebullient energy vocalizing young Walter, who learns that the angels and miracles in Jesus’ story top the swords and dragons of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table any day.

Check your local theatre listings for showtimes of The King of Kings.