More to the point, it features a solid story that takes familiar elements and buffs them up in new and interesting ways. One of those, of course, is the computer animation, which is alternately photo-realistic and dazzlingly imaginative. There is depth and substance to these characters that give them a tactile, tangible quality, as though they are stop-motion figures that exist in three dimensions, rather than great strings of computer code in someone's mainframe. Mud looks wet and goopy. Fur looks plush and soft.
Fire jumps in brilliant, crackling flames.
None of which would matter, of course, if the script wasn't good. The japes at Disney's expense are both broad and subtle, which is in line with the rest of the jokes in this film. They're not so inside that they won't amuse audiences who don't understand the subtext of the punch lines. With your fellow Journal News readers, discuss events and issues that are important to you. The Journal News, a Gannett Co., Inc. newspaper.