Fun characters EXCELLENT message

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2013)

The animation, beautiful colors, fantastical creatures, humor, etc are all cool, but the message was simply amazing. How many people live in the "dark ages" so fearful of everything that (quote from movie) "we aren't living, we're really just NOT dying". There were a lot of biblical references about the world coming to an end, and really only needing love and the strength and courage to "go toward the light" in order to "find Tomorrow".
Another metaphor, is that the SPEED with which these cave people must conduct all their daily activities just to survive replicates the fast-paced rat race which is now so "normal" we don't even realize how much we're missing. We rush rush rush all day long, just in order to...do it all over again the very next day. When they slow down and enjoy the beauty of everything around them is when these characters finally start to "get it".
It's also a wonderful story about the importance of family and the dynamic between parents/teens. If we try to protect them too much our kids may be safe, but they can't grow, become independent, and really live; but, if we give them just the right amount of freedom and boundaries instead of rigid rules, they figure out what we most want them to learn anyway--on their own--which is REALLY what we parents wanted anyway. So ironically simple and commonsense, yet still so hard to get it right. I literally had tears streaming down my face in several parts. Great movie! Check it out!