FernGully: The Last Rainforest

Plot synopsis:
Crysta is a fairy with a curious nature living in FernGully, a pristine rainforest free from human intervention. The fairies of FernGully once lived in harmony with humans, but, believe them to have gone extinct after being driven away by a malevolent spirit named Hexxus. Crysta is the apprentice of Magi, a motherly-figure fairy who imprisoned Hexxus in a tree. One day Crysta explores a new part of the forest and meets Batty, a bat who claims to have been experimented on by humans, giving him an obstreperous and unstable personality. She refuses to believe him until she encounters lumberjacks cutting down trees. She sees Zak, a young human whom Crysta accidentally shrinks when she tries to save him from being crushed by a falling tree, though does not know how to restore him to normal size.
The tree that Hexxus is imprisoned in is cut down by Tony and Ralph, Zak's superiors. Hexxus quickly begins to regain his powers by feeding on pollution. He manipulates the humans to drive to FernGully. In FernGully, Zak meets Pips, a fairy male who is envious of Zak's relationship with Crysta. Zak begins to fall in love with Crysta, but hides the true reason that the humans had returned. When the signs of Hexxus's resurrection begin to manifest themselves in poisoned trees and rivers, he finally admits that humans are destroying the forest. The fairies mount an attempt to defend their homes, but knowing their fight is hopeless, Zak convinces Batty to aid him in stopping the machine before it destroys them. When Zak makes his presence known to Tony and Ralph, Hexxus takes over the machine and begins to wildly destroy the forest.
Magi sacrifices herself to give the fairies a chance, and she tells Crysta to remember everything she's learned. Zak manages to stop the machine, depriving Hexxus the source of his power, but he manifests himself within the oil in the machine and begins to ignite the forest ablaze. Crysta seemingly sacrifices herself by allowing herself to be devoured by Hexxus and all seems lost, until he begins to sprout limbs and leaves like a tree. Pips and the rest of the fairies rally to the powers they have been given, which causes the seed that Crysta fed him to start growing wildly. Hexxus is crushed and erased by the newly grown tree at the very border of FernGully which bursts into bloom. Crysta appears after the fight, having survived her ordeal and successfully succeeded Magi as a magical fairy. She gives Zak a seed, begging him to remember everything that has transpired and she sadly restores him to his human size. Remembering the seed in his hand, Zak promises to remember his adventure, and buries the seed in the soil before telling Tony and Ralph that things need to change as they leave the forest behind. The seed sprouts new growth for FernGully, as Crysta follows Pips with Batty behind her.

Tags: psychedelic, fantasy, romantic

Review:
I may sentimentalize movies from my youth, but not the ones that really don't deserve my affection.This one does.Crysta, a simple, innocent, and at times flippant fairy, is an imperfect but funny heroine, and as genuine as they come.
Batty gives Robin Williams another character perfectly suited to his talent -- I watched this movie at a party with highschoolers and he went down great (everyone liked the movie overall, but Batty stole my friends' hearts).
I think this is because the usual sentimentality and condescension you see in kids' movie whenever there's a "message" is totally absent -- Magi speaks her lines with total respect and love for Crysta.
Go figure, this doesn't bode well with the fairies who are trying to protect nature.Zak is a kid likely in his late teens working for this tree felling company as a summer job.
Er, sight!" Apparently the first word spoken for a spell is the one that takes, and Zak is three inches tall, just like the fairies.Zak befriends Crysta, along with her bat friend, Batty (voiced by Robin Williams).
The main focus of the movie is the relationship between Zak and Crysta, but also on the potential destruction of Fern Gully as per the wishes of Hexxus.It's a cartoon, so obviously the fairies are going to stop Hexxus.
But it's still a fun little movie filled with some very funny lines, brightly colored animation, and great voice acting.Bottom Line: 4 out of 4 (own this movie).
I hate getting a film you loved as a child and watching it as an adult only to find it's completely lost it's magic over time.
Having pushed all my videos to the back of a dark cupboard, I hadn't actually watched the film in years until I bought it last week on DVD.Ferngully has it's problems, some of the songs were written with the days music heavily in the forefront so they haven't really stood the test of time.
The overall message of taking care of the environment will seem heavy handed to an adult, although I remember feeling inspired by it as a child.That aside I cannot vault the voice acting, Tim Curry, Robin Williams, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, they all deliver great performances.
The animation is terrific and looks very much like Disney movies of the time.
The stories hero's are compelling to watch, you really do care about what happens to them as it progresses to the climax, all this is woven together with touching little moments in the animation and a clever and funny set of supporting characters.Will children today enjoy it?
Zak, one of the worker of a team that is destroying the forest to build a road is shrunk by a fairy (Chrysta) and introduced to the magical world that he was destroying.The animation is good, with rich colors and gorgeous visuals of the forest.
The best song is the one performed by the bad guy, Hexxus, a literaly slimy demon, that perfectly represents the greed of modern society.This is a little gem in the Disney-dominated world of animation.
In describing humans, "They walk around like 'Hi Helen!'" I love the message most of all, and it does a good job of representing the greed and destruction of our times through images, actions and dialogue.
At a young age I alway thought "Dude, that guy Zak has the coolest haircut."  And untill this very moment, I didn't realise that Hexxus was a demon, or was voiced by Tim Curry.It's an interesting movie in a large rainforest inhabited by fairies.
Hexxus was chillingly voiced by the quintessential Tim Curry, and Robin Williams was hilarious as Batty Koda.
The film also has a good message and a nice story, that isn't at all preachy.
A band of fairies and their human allies must save a primeval rainforest from destruction by a conscienceless lumber company (not to mention a venomously evil entity voiced by Tim Curry).
Though basically a Darwinian morality play dressed up in the more palatable medium of a kids' cartoon, FERNGULLY is actually an entertaining and thought-provoking animated masterpiece.
Like it or loathe it, this film is "Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest".The ups are good humour from the one and only Robin Williams (who is a bat and sings a brilliant rap song), good thoughts about the environment (as in the way it is in this film), the setting (an Australian jungle - you would think if it was about fairies it would be set in Britain - wouldn't you?), good background animation (mainly jungle and trees), good songs (a mixture, including the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful) and a good message (to be good to the environment).The downs/flaws is the fact the main character is annoying (yet for some reason everybody likes her) and the film also drags on slightly.
Most of the fairies believe that humans do not exist, but when a bat who has been experimented in a lab tells the fairies of humans, there is one called Crysta (a girl fairy) who wants to see the humans for herself...Good for children, mainly, who do not care much about the environment, but also for people who like Robin Williams and animation in general.
It is about a human male shrunk to fairy-size; he learns about fairies, their forest habitat, and soon finds a logging crew he was working with is now threatening their home.I remember watching FernGully as a kid, I really liked Batty (voiced by Robin Williams) and his song.
The other pretty good character is the villain Hexxus (Tim Curry), who also has a catchy song.
Still, 18 years after it came out, families will likely continue to find FernGully enjoyable and its environmental message remains important..
I remember this movie when I was little I have mix feelings about it I like the animation and the characters but the story can send some mix messages but I love it the villain is really scary and the bat is funny you will enjoy it.
Robin Williams made this movie fresh and hilarious as Batty, and Samantha Mathis is wonderful as Crysta.
Ferngully is a great animated movie.
Next, the film brought a point how pollution and toxic waste ravage our planet, if we let factories and machines destroy nature.The characters especially the fairies showed how compassion and care for nature help us humans to have healthy environment.
I first watched this movie when I was a young child and thought it was great.
Robin Williams does a great job as Batty.I feel the FERNGULLY is under-ratted and over-looked.
Beautiful animation, fitting voice actors and well-thought musical numbers all weave a wonderful story about an Australian rainforest inhabited by fairies, one of which befriends lumberjack Ward who is unwittingly playing a part in destroying FernGully.
Mathis is perfectly sweet as the curious fairy who tries to guide her new human friend into understanding the damage his kind is inflicting on the natural world, and what a great importance it is to preserve nature; Williams is hilarious as Batty Koda, though his role now seems sort of like an underwhelming version of Genie from ALADDIN; and Curry is chilling even as a cartoon character!
It's colorful and fun with awesome songs...plus the voice talents of two amazing actors, Robin Williams and Tim Curry!
Williams' character Batty is hilarious and full of jokes, and Curry's songs as the villain are so good!
Most of the time,when I try and watch a movie I used to love, it sucks.
One of the best animated movies ever made with an important message of protecting the Rainforest.
I love it's important message of protecting the rainforest and our environment, without being too 'in your face' obvious; I'm all for green too.The film starts somewhere in the Australian rainforest, lays a fairy world known as Ferngully.
No - it's so FAIRIES will have a place to live.The film is dedicated to: "Our Children and Our Children's' Children."FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST follows sexy, half-naked, winged, tramp sprite Chrysta (voiced by Samantha Mathis), as she discovers humans in the forest, doing something unthinkable - wearing clothes.
We are led to believe the humans are killing trees for no reason, but - without advocating senseless destruction - logging is done for a number of reasons, none of which is specifically so that fairies go homeless.That is the first un-brained message that our children and our children's' children can get confused over in this animated film.
(Note that the industrial society that performs the logging is providing jobs and domestic product, which feed and clothe the very same children's' children this movie is preaching to.) Chrysta's magic old witch friend (voice of Grace Zabriskie) once entrapped an evil spirit called Hexus (Tim Curry) in one of the trees.
Final scenes of FERNGULLY show a denuded forest being regrown in minutes through the fairy witch's magic - which undermines the movie's entire message.
If a rainforest can be grown instantaneously through Magic, well, why the hell NOT tear it down for homes for the homeless and creating jobs for the economy and then re-grow another one like in the movie?And the headlines read: FAIRIES MAGICALLY REGROW FOREST IN MINUTES.
my personal favorite is batty koda who is just as funny as can be and robin Williams was an amazing choice for this character.when i was little i couldn't wait till Friday nights when it was my turn to pick a movie and i always picked this one.
it has amazing affects, catchy fun songs, a great plot, good lessons in doing the right thing and caring for nature and amazing character development.
the combining of the human world and its affect on nature is true and i think its something we should let our kids watch because without the environment we will destroy our lives.
I watched this film for the first time when I was a single digit in age, and now I'm 19 and can still clearly remember how much it inspired me, and still does inspire me.FernGully is a children's movie - with a very real, very serious issue not at all portrayed subtly.
His role makes you appreciate that the threat he stands for is so normal for us, and yet spells the end for the world we don't really think about - the deepest rainforest's.Of course, this film also includes many laughs that will keep kids entertained.
Humans have lost touch with nature, and Zach, our hero of the story, goes through the process of realising what his race has become.I'm aware I've rambled a lot here, but this was a movie that really touched me, and I just hope that children nowadays can overlook the dated cartoon style and really see the messages behind the story.
Long story short, the sole lesson to be taken away from this movie is - "Humans are evil and the source of any and all bad things.".
I used to love this movie as a child, and this is obviously meant for children, so I guess kids will like it.
However, re-watching it, this is a heavy handed kids movie with too many slow moments and animation too loose for it's own good.Ferngully tells the story of a rain forest full of sprite like creatures.
Now, I realize how preachy this really is, so it doesn't work on any level.In the end, this was a short, preachy movie, with some inspired moments....but mostly it was too heavy on it's environmental message.My rating: ** out of ****.
Along with its environmental message, it makes an enjoyable ride through the home of magical fairies and their fight against the force of destruction of their rainforest.
And honestly, I feel it was very well done.I remember watching this movie as a kid and really enjoying it.
This eco-friendly animated feature is a children's environmental fantasy about a tropical paradise protected by guardian fairies, one of whom (a cute Tinkerbell look-alike) develops a crush on the first human she ever sees, after helping him mend his ignorant, woodcutting ways.
And even after watching horror flicks like 'The Thing,' 'The Exorcist' and bunch of other scary movies, this kid's animation still scared me a whole heck of a lot.
By the time you get older, like me, you don't think of fairies anymore but then when you become a little older still this movie is one that you would love again.It's really good.
lets get that behind us.OK....I am not an enviormentalist, but this movie is still strong with me, when I was younger I really didn't get it, but now, 10 years from when I last saw it, I dug this out of my old VHS pile, and after watching it, It has left an even more influence with me....now onto the movie itself- Characters are wonderful, story is great for it's time, and it has a very important message that was ahead of it's time.
I wwish Zack would of stayed at the end, but he has to do something important, years from now I would love to make a live action verion of this film, to give the story the credit it deserves, because critics called it "preachy", people gave this movie a low rating.
I was really not taken in by the songs or the music and the villain comes, gets beaten and goes but even so, there are enough good things about this movie to keep one engrossed for the viewing period and it will not be easily forgotten either..
Little Chrysta (Samantha Mathis), a fairy who lives in Fern Gully, is immensely interested in the "folklore" of humans, who are thought by the fairies to be extinct, destroyed by the wicked Hexxus (Tim Curry) an evil spirit of poison and death.
I saw this movie when I was eleven, having been raised on animated films like THE BLACK CAULDRON, THE LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, etc.
Ferngully is a great movie for kids.
I loved this movie when I was a kid, but I just watched this yesterday while babysitting my little sister.
I just love fern gully and now I am sharing it with my 5-year old daughter.It is the kind of movie that makes a person realize that nature is very important.
Younger kids are probably not going to understand the meaning of the movie and just be scared of the loud tree cutting machine/monster things..
The enemy (of course) is the environmental pollution is personified as a villain in the movie voiced by Tim Curry.
It's the sort of movie that tries to make kids aware of their environment and point out the importance of nature and how bad and evil it is that humans are destructing the rain forest.
The animation of the movie itself is pretty good.
Both the characters and the background and environments of the movie are pretty good looking.
I guess I wasn't too surprised when I read that this movie was released on Earth-Worship Day (Nature good--humans bad.) Robin Williams is funny as Batty the Bat, better than the same routine on fast forward, which he did for the genie in Aladdin (also 1992)..
Robin Williams as Batty was hilarious and Tim Curry's voice for Hexxus was convincing.
The scene where Zak and Christa walk on water and put their palms together is a little dark in terms of shading; however the animation in this sequence is stunning and is as pleasant as the song that accompanies it.All in all, this film was worth watching after having forgotten about it for several years.
Basically a race of fairies live in the rain forest called FernGully, they have never seen humans, but they believe they exist from the stories told of time gone by.
In the process of destroying FernGully, the humans have released the evil Hexxus (Tim Curry), an oil-like and then smoke driven creature who wants to unleash chaos, and taking over the "leveler" he works to destroy the forest.
In the end, Hexxus is trapped inside a newly grown tree, Crysta uses her power to grow Zak back to normal size, and he ensures the fairies that he will stop any other humans coming to the forest to destroy it.
The voice acting is all fine, the most fun to listen to is obviously Williams who creates the laughs, the animation is alright, and the story has some okay ideas that obviously delve into the concept of saving the environment, and the Elton John song "Some Other World" at the end is good, overall it isn't something I would see again, a not terrible but also not great animated fantasy.
Good animation and character design, somewhat okay story, and a badly done message..
But, the problem is that this movie has a save the rain forest message that interferes with the story.
For children it's really great although really Batty is the only properly entertaining character the film in general is pretty good.
I really enjoyed the music to this film myself and I think it sends a fairly good message out to children although it does through all people into a fairly bad light.
This movie shows how humans are destroying the rain forest.
The movie is a great one and good for kids.
The plot follows a fairy-like creature, Crysta, and her environmentally aware friends, who try and rescue their home from the Hexxus, a polluting entity bent on destroying the rain forest forever.You might as well be showing your children a bunch of Nazi 1940's WW2 propaganda because this really isn't much different.
Only watch FernGully for the voice talents of Tim Curry (Toxic Love song is so cool) and Robin Williams, or for nostalgic value, and keep it away from your kids.
And let's face it, little kids won't give a damn about the environmental message in it, they just want to see an entertaining movie and the only entertaining and cool character in it was Hexxus.