As Fuzzy Brained As Its Characters

Rating: 3/10 (23 June 2007)

This film was greatly disappointing to me and my wife, and we are both HUGE fans of great animation. It seems like the story board had to have been created by committee, as though one of those faux pitch websites had been used.
Most of the characters are stereotypes, with all but one of the main characters of strength being male. The film starts as an ugly duckling type story then turns into a pro-ecology one. It couldn't seem to make up its mind what it wanted to be. Ultimately, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I just thought it was a poor piece of storytelling, which, for me, is first and foremost in any film.
The animation was certainly very good for CGI, with some stunning art direction. The film had been conceived originally as one to be released in 3D, and you can see by the framing of many shots the evidence for that. The studio ultimately decided it would be too expensive to release that way after all was said and done. Perhaps it will be released in that format to the theaters at some point in the future.
Aside from some pop culture film references near the end, this is not a multi-layered film that adults will get into as well as kids the way even Disney, at its best, can do (think of "Beauty and the Beast" or "The Little Mermaid" for recent vintage films.).
This film is a failure in my eyes. Too bad.
If you need to rent a family picture, stick with the "Toy Story" movies, the "Princess Monanoke" (sp?) or even the stunning (but for older kids and adults) "Pan's Labyrinth".