Tag: Animation

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – Z – Zombillenium (2017) Movie Review

Director: Arthur de Pins, Alexis Ducord

Writer: Arthur de Pins, Alexis Ducord (Screenplay) Arthur de Pins (Book)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Emmanuel Curtil, Alain Choquet, Kelly Marot, Alexis Tomassian, Mat Bastard, Emmanuel Jacomy

Plot: Zombillenium, the Halloween theme park, happens to be the one place on earth where real monsters can hide in plain sight. When Hector, a human, threatens to disclose the true identity of his employees, the Vampire Park Manager has no other choice but to hire him. To see his daughter, Hector must escape from his Zombies and Werewolves coworkers.

Runtime: 1 Hour 18 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Animation

Story: Zombillenium starts when city inspector Hector looks to investigate the local theme part Zombillenium, only to learn the big secret about the park, the employees are real monsters, forced to work there, with Hector finding himself forced into the becoming the latest employee, with his daughter Lucie being forced into boarding school.

As Hector needs to learn to deal with the fact he is now dead and in fact one of the new monsters, he finds himself breaking more of the rules of the park, putting everyone else in danger, including his own daughter.

Thoughts on Zombillenium

Characters – Hector is a city inspector that hasn’t been the best father, putting his career ahead of his daughter, he does strike fear into the businesses in his city, with his latest inspection being on a horror theme park, where he ends up being turned into one of the employees, here he must help the park survive the changes in demand, which sees his ideas bring the love back to the park. Francis runs the park, needing to find a way to keep the business flying and the staff employed. Gretchen is the intern that is meant to be watching Hector around the park, teaching him about the rules, with her own desire to become one of the main attractions in the park, with her own powers. Steven is the star attraction in the park, the vampire who gets frustrated with the attention spiral out of control, looking to regain his fame.

Story – The story here follows a city inspector that gets forced into working in the horror theme park as the latest attraction, with his ideas helping the park become stronger even if it does unsettle the system left in place with years of experience in the park. This is a nice spin to how the animated stories are created, with have a horror theme park filled with different creatures looking to remain employed, each monster has the trait that you would expect to see from the era, with plenty of messages about treating people equal in life.

Comedy/Horror – The comedy in this film comes from the different monsters following or going against the known traits which have surrounding them for years, with the horror shows us how the monsters would look to make more of their abilities without being killers.

Settings – The film creates a fully functional theme park for the main setting, it shows us how different monsters would run their own rides through the film.

Animation – The animation brings us a style that feels fresh and unseen, with it following the style used by Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse.


Scene of the Movie – The concert.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The vampires are not interesting.

Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining and enjoyable animation that brings to life a whole new selection of monsters in a modern point of view.

Overall: Enjoyable Animation.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – Y – Batman: Year One (2011) Movie Review

Director: Sam Liu, Lauren Montgomery

Writer: Tab Murphy (Screenplay) Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis (Graphic Novel)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku, Jon Polito, Alex Rocco, Katee Sackhoff

Plot: A wealthy playboy and a Chicago cop both return to Gotham City where their lives will intersect in unexpected ways.


Tagline – A merciless crime – turns a man into an outlaw.

Runtime: 1 Hour 4 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Beautifully Dark

Story: Batman: Year One starts when Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne arrive in Gotham, one to start a new career, the other returning for the first time in years. Jim joins the force and sees just how corrupt the force is in this city, where he must wait for his time to bring them down, while Bruce is taking his first steps into fighting crime him own way.

When Batman starts building his vigilante reputation, Gordon is assigned to track him down and stop him from taking control of the city. Gordon must face him and learn that the two might want the same thing for the city.

Thoughts on Batman: Year One

Characters – Jim Gordon is the new lieutenant in Gotham City, he is here to start a new career with his pregnant wife, with his previous life showing him to have been the one to expose corrupt police officers, now in the middle of a corrupt department, he must wait for his time to bring them down, no matter who comes for him. He must decide whether Batman is going to be a threat or not. Bruce Wayne has returned home after years his parents death and wanting to start fighting crime, he has started small before evolving into the Batman, taking on the biggest crime boss in the city, he might be seen as the enemy, but shows his true colours. Selina is a small time criminal that has been waiting for her chance to make the most of the criminal uprising, seeing that Batman could be doing the right thing. Commissioner Loeb is the man who has been accused of being corrupt and now he has it covered up until Jim arrives to try and make the most of everything before losing everything he has worked for.

Story – The story here follows one year in Gotham city as we see how the rise of the Batman and Jim Gordon through the police force dealing with the criminals both in the police force and the criminal underworld. The story does highlight how they both want to do the right thing in different ways, but both don’t want to turn to murder. They do also see enemies come from different directions in their lives too. The strange way this film plays out is when we see just how the time flies, we do have a couple of scenes which are literally one line and jump to the next week, which does make this feel rush, making you think it could have had a lot more in the story.

Action/Crime – The action does mix with the crime, because it shows how both sides are fighting for what is right with bodies flying around the scenes.

Settings – The film takes us to Gotham city which we all know is the iconic location that is known for the Batman to be set in.

Animation – The animation style is great to see and will always work for the darker Batman stories.


Scene of the Movie – Batman escape.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The certain random scenes to show a sentence.

Final Thoughts – This is a great dark Batman story which does show the origin of both Batman and Jim Gordon in there one year after returning and arriving in Gotham.

Overall: Great Origin Story.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – X – FernGully the Last Rainforest (1992) Movie Review

We are going under X because of Hexxus, the villainous character.

Director: Bill Kroyer

Writer: Jim Cox (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Tim Curry, Samantha Mathis, Christian Slater, Jonathan Ward, Robin Williams, Grace Zabriskie

Plot: The magical inhabitants of a rainforest fight to save their home, which is threatened by logging and a polluting force of destruction called Hexxus.


Tagline – They live in a secret world touched by magic and surrounded by nature, and the only human who has ever been there, must now fight to save it.

Runtime: 1 Hour 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Dark and Important Message

Story: FernGully: The Last Rainforest starts as we meet the fairies in the rainforest, Crysta is a young fairy learning from the wise Magi Lune who defeated the evil Hexxus that would bring devastation to the rainforest if released, spreading the poison to the land.

When Crysta discovers smoke in the distance, she wants to explore, with Magi Lune knowing the threat the return of the humans could bring to the rainforest, with Hexxus being given something to feed and grow on, so it can consume the rainforest once again. Crysta must work with the other fairies and the human she accidentally shrunk Zak to save the rainforest.

Thoughts on FernGully: The Last Rainforest

Characters – Crysta is a young fairy that is still learning how to control her magic like the elders, she is curious about what she could discover in the world, where she brings a human back to the village, where she must learn the harsh reality of humans involvement in the world as well as stop an evil coming to the land. Magi Lune is the mentor of Crysta, she has fought the battles for years and is ready to pass on her experience to Crysta to fight for the next generation of fairies. Zak is the human that gets shrunk, he is a city boy that is just working mostly as a slacker, only he learns the magic of the rainforest with his time with the fairies. Hexxus is the evil toxic poison that was defeated from consuming the rainforest, now he has been freed and looks to bring his devastation on the fairies and other creatures in the rainforest.

Story – The story here shows how an evil toxic poison created by humans will destroy a rainforest unless the fairies can come together to look for a way to defeat it before they lose their homes. This is a story that seems like it is way before its time, with the message about deforestation coming through clearly, we might well have a fantasy element involved, but the idea that humans will destroy different species homes unless they can learn is clear here. We have the musical numbers and the side of the story that is about someone learning their own potential coming through strong too. The message is clear, the importance is relevant, this is a great story for all to understand.

Fantasy – The fantasy side of this film is about the idea that fairies and toxic poisons are real in the fight for nature, rather than just the battle between humans and nature.

Settings – The film uses the rainforest setting to show the beauty that was once there, the destruction caused and how we can have beauty once again in the world.

Animation – The animation is on the top level for the early 1990s, we see the brightness of the beauty and the darkness that could consume the world.


Scene of the Movie – Hexxus growing into the world.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It isn’t long enough.

Final Thoughts – This is an important animation that has a clear message that should be told to all, it has beauty and darkness through the film and is one that could become one of the most important for years to come.

Overall: Important Animation.

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – W – Wonder Park (2019) Movie Review

Director: Dylan Brown

Writer: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec (Screenplay) Robert Gordon, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Brianna Denski, Matthew Broderick, Mila Kunis, Kenan Thompson, John Oliver, Ken Jeong, Ken Hudson Campbell, Jennifer Garner

Plot: Wonder Park tells the story of an amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive.


Tagline – Dream bigger.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Simple Animation

Story: Wonder Park starts as we meet the imaginative young girl named June who along with her mother has created a fictional amusement park known as Wonderland, she wants to bring this to life, only after her mother gets sick, she gives up on the dream, dumping all of the plans she once had.

One a school trip June doesn’t want to leave her father alone and in her escape attempt, she finds herself in an abandoned Wonderland, where the animals she has created are fighting the horrors in the park. June needs to fix the problems created in the park, to bring her escape from her own grief back to life.

Thoughts on Wonder Park

Characters – June is the young girl that has a wild imagination who created a theme park with her mother, she has even tried to make it a reality only for it to fall apart. She gives up on her dream closing off to the world, only for her past to come back to her, where she needs to help the park come back to life to save the residents and find her happiness again. Peanut is the monkey that runs the park, he takes the ideas of June and entertains the crowds, only he has gone missing since the darkness arrives in the park. Greta holds the park together along with the rest of the animals.

Story – The story here follows a young girl that has created an amusement part in her mind with her mother, only to give up on the idea after her mother becomes ill, only to find herself in the park filled with darkness where she needs to confront her own feelings to save her dream. This story does try to deal with one of the most serious issues in life, loss, one where a younger person will struggle to process the ideas properly, we get the message about not giving up on the dreams, only we get it told in such a strange fantasy filled way it just doesn’t connect on the levels it could do. The heart in the film is great, only the comedy drags it away.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure side of the film shows us the park that June ends up being taken into, somewhere was only in her imagination, with the comedy not hitting hard enough for the all set up created.

Settings – The film does use the settings of the park to make us see the beauty created and how it can looked beaten down when the dreams become shattered.

Animation – The animation looks strong, being the best part of the film, with each location looking beautiful.


Scene of the Movie – The new ride.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The comedy.

Final Thoughts – This is a simple animation that tries to show the heart it requires only to get caught on the comedy that doesn’t work.

Overall: Heart Filled Animation.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – V – Valley of the Lanterns (2018) Movie Review

Director: Caleb Hystad

Writer: Caleb Hystad (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Samantha Ferris, Thomas Haddaway-Graham, Ian Hanlin, Jonathan Love, Nicole Oliver

Plot: An old woman’s hold on the past puts her family’s future in jeopardy.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Animation 101

Story: Valley of the Lanterns starts as young village boy Porter is asked to help his mysterious grandmother Olistene out with her work, she builds lanterns for the village for a yearly celebration, all while searching for her own mystery that has been a lifetime of searching for.

When Olistene finds the secret, she ends up putting the village in an endless cycle, which sees her living the same day on repeat trying to fix the problem she created.

Thoughts on Valley of the Lanterns

Characters – Olistene is the grandmother of the family that builds the village lanterns every year for a celebration, all while searching for her own solution to the magic, she is willing to teach her grandson about the ways of the lanterns, until she finds herself repeating the same year over again, looking for a different outcome to save the village from repeating the day. Porter is the grandson that enjoys kicking a ball around, but is being encouraged to learn from his grandmother, passing on the traditions of the family. Keelan is one of the few people that bought into the cycle, where his greed puts Olistene in a difficult position of wanting to fix things or get what he wants.

Story – The story here follows a woman that has found herself repeating the same year, a special day for the village, where her magic has caught everyone in a loop, where she needs to start finding a way to change things before it is too late for the people. This is a story that examines accepting time in life and seeing just how greed can leave people stuck in a cycle they can’t control, it also focuses on the idea of tradition still needing to be followed no matter what. This is told in a sweet way, that will appeal to the younger audience that are watching.

Settings – The film keeps us in a small traditional village which has got plenty of history behind what has happened there and shows us just how close the community really is.

Animation – The animation might not be the strongest, but it doesn’t hold it back from showing us just how the story is meant to be seen.


Scene of the Movie – The first change.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does play the repeat card too often with how everything happens.

Final Thoughts – This is an easy watch animated movie, this can be enjoyed by all and without being anything overly complicated, with a nice sweet message behind it all.

Overall: Sweet Animation.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – U – The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Movie Review

We are under the U because of the Unikitty character.

Director: Mike Mitchell

Writer: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller (Screenplay) Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Matthew Fogel (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day

Plot: It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.


Tagline – You’re Awesome

Runtime: 1 hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Lazy Sequel

Story: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part starts in the aftermath of the Duplo invasion, where Emmet and Wyldstyle are living in an apocalyptic version of the Lego world. After General Mayhem arrives, she takes Wyldstyle, Batman, Benny, MetalBeard and Unkitty for her leader Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi who wants them for a ceremony.

Emmet needing to fix his mistake again, goes in search for his friends, meeting Rex Dangervest as he looks to save the day once again.

Thoughts on The Lego Movie 2: The Second part

Characters – Emmet is still the overly positive character who has always tried to stay happy even after what has happened, he is still naïve about life, which sees him cause more problems, leading him to go out on his own to try and save the day, even though Wiyldstyle will do most of the work. Wyldstyle is still the tough nonsense figure and love interest to Emmet, who will always look to fight to keep the friends safe, including trying to toughen Emmet up. Batman does continue to be the one that always sthinks he saves the day even if he doesn’t actually do anything useful. Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi is the ruler of the new world that has taken the friends to perform a ceremony.

Story – The story shows the next chapter in the adventures of the Lego figures, which does take them to a new level to new worlds and still need to protect each other from the danger. Where the story here falls shorter, is by trying to build on the real world situations instead of trying to give us a more natural Lego story. We fail to get a new annoyingly catchy song through and everything that happens just feels like more of an advertisement for the Lego products over telling a real story.

Action/Comedy – The action does try to be bigger, only it ends up feeling a lot small, because we only focus on big destruction moments over anything else, with the comedy missing more than it needs to.

Settings – The film uses other Lego worlds to create new settings, which is fine I guess, only it just doesn’t add to much.

Animation – The animation side of the film looks like it is what we would expect form a company like the ones behind it.


Scene of the Movie – Couldn’t Find one.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The overuse of the real-world.

Final Thoughts – This is a poor sequel to a fun original movie, that doesn’t have a feel-good factor like first time and ends up wanting to rip off Toy Story more than anything.

Overall: Poor Sequel.

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – T – Tarzan (1999) Movie Review

Director: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima

Writer: Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Brian Blessed, Glenn Close, Minnie Driver, Tony Goldwyn, Nigel Hawthorne, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight

Plot: A man raised by gorillas must decide where he really belongs when he discovers he is a human.


Tagline – An immortal legend. As you’ve only imagined.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Typical Disney

Story: Tarzan starts when baby Tarzan is lost in the jungle taken in by gorilla Kala to be raised in the jungle despite the elder Kerchak not wanting him around.

As Tarzan because part of the tribe, he becomes the defender of the area until humans arrive where Tarzan falls in love with Jane and must prove himself to the tribe after other humans want to hunt the gorillas.

Thoughts on Tarzan

Characters – Tarzan was raised by gorillas in the jungle despite being seen as the enemy, he proves his value to the tribe until humans visit and he gets his head turned to the life she should have been living. Kala raised Tarzan despite being against the wishes of the leader of the tribe, she teaches him well, just to become a true leader. Jane is the human woman Tarzan falls in love with, she wants the best for the gorillas, like her father who want to studio, not harm them. Clayton is the hunter that just wants to collect more animals in his collection.

Story – The story shows the human Tarzan raised by gorillas to live in the jungle where becomes part of the tribe, when humans arrives he must decides where he wants to go and who to protect. This is another version of the classic tale, it goes full Disney with the musical numbers, while never getting dark enough to understand the reality of the situation. It is tame enough for the family to enjoy, it feels very safe for the most part.

Adventure – The adventure is everything we know for Tarzan, his adventures in the jungle before and after Jane arrives.

Settings – The film is set in the jungle which looks beautiful through the film, which is the highlight of the film.

Animation – The animation in this film is everything you could see from Disney, it looks flawless through the film.


Scene of the Movie – Elephant hair.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not dark enough.

Final Thoughts – This is just another Disney movie that is fun enough without being too serious along the way.

Overall: Disney 101.

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – R – Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) Movie Review

Director: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore

Writer: Phil Johnston, Pamela Ribon (Screenplay) Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, Jim Reardon, Pamela Ribon, Josie Trinidad (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk

Plot: Six years after the events of “Wreck-It Ralph,” Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.


Tagline – Who broke the internet?

Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Serious Moments Shine, the Rest is Just Here

Story: Ralph Breaks the Internet starts as Ralph and Vanellope are best friends working in the arcade by day, travelling through the games by night, with Ralph happy with life and Vanellope getting tired of the same tracks, Ralph tries to help her by making a new track, which only ends up breaking Sugar Rush, forcing the residents of the game to search for new homes.

Ralph wanting to fix the problem, heads to the internet to go to Ebay to get a new steering wheel for the game, only to cause more damage than he caused in the first place, can they navigate the internet in time.

Thoughts on Ralph Breaks the Internet

Characters – Ralph is still happy in his video game and the arcade where he spends time with Vanellope exploring through the games, until he decides to help Vanellope improve her game, only causing more problems breaking her game. Ralph heads to the internet to try and fic the problems he once caused. Vanellope is getting tired of her game with the same tracks, which sees Ralph trying to create her a new track, this breaks her game and heading to the internet she finds a new lease for life and competition she has always been looking for on the track. Shank is the cool racer from Slaughter Race, she offers Vanellope competition on the track and she also enjoys the competition from her. Yesss is the algorithm that helps Ralph become an internet sensation that is needed to make the money to get the steering wheel.

Story – The story show how Ralph has broken Sugar Rush once again, only this time he looks to the internet for a fix, where he must learn to navigate the internet to save the game. This story does open up the world of gaming to new levels for the characters, where one must adapt to change, while the other embraces it. This can clearly be used to reflect different generations trying to deal with people’s dreams, while having plenty of message about how to use the internet, because however much good there is on there, we will see the bad trying to ruin the best parts of it. When it comes to standing up to the first movie, this story might have the heart of the first one, but it lacks the flow the first one had.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure side of this film does see both Ralph and Vanellope experiencing a new world, one that is bigger than they ever imagined, while one embraces it the other doesn’t. the comedy doesn’t hit as well as the first one, with most turning to references that if you don’t understand, you might not get the joke.

Settings – The idea of how to show the size of the internet is interesting showing how the number of people will get lost and act like sheep through it.

Animation – The animation is always a beautiful visual for the film, it never looks out of place and does use different styles for different games too.


Scene of the Movie – The truth about the internet.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – How does Vanellope get out of her game now?

Final Thoughts – This is a solid enough sequel that once again is covered in a serious issues with mental health and how the internet can make things more difficult if you don’t learn the problems it can cause.

Overall: Animation sequel 101

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ABC Film Challenge – Animation – L – Luis & The Aliens (2018) Movie Review

Director: Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein, Sean McCormack

Writer: Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein, Sean McCormack (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Callum Maloney, Dermot Magennis, Ian Coppinger, Paul Tylak, Lucy Carolan, Eoin Daly

Plot: An 11-year-old boy befriends three aliens after they crash their spaceship into his house.


Tagline – Extra terrestrial. Extra trouble.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Cute & Serious

Story: Luis & The Aliens starts as we meet Luis a young boy that is struggling to fit in and his father Armin is a UFO nut that everybody in the town sees as crazy, this has led to the principal starting to worry about his safety. Luis is getting tired of his father’s action until one day three aliens Wabo, Mog and Nag visit Earth during their own space cruise.

When the four meet they both work together to help the aliens got off Earth and Luis find a new reason for life, hopefully bringing him closer to his father before being taken away from him.

Thoughts on Luis & the Aliens

Characters – Luis is a typical school child on the outside, but he does struggle to fit in, he has been dealing with the loss of his mother, which has seen him become distant from his father. He is sinking into a depression that will see him being taken away from his father. He befriends the aliens for an adventure he never imagined that could turn his life around. Wabo, Mog and Nag are the aliens who carelessly visit Earth who just want to get home with a television channel shop. They get themselves into all sorts of troubles during their adventure on Earth.

Story – The story here follows a young boy that has become distant from his own father after the death of his mother, that gets a visit from aliens who could finally bring him closer to his father once again. This story does have a surprisingly serious side to everything going on, it shows us how people need to make time for the loved ones and kids need to learn how to treat each other, sure we do get the silly fun with the aliens activities, but the rest has a bigger message which could be important to many people to see. The story is also easy to follow which would make it a joy for the younger audience too.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure side of this film shows us where the aliens have come from in a world that haven’t been to before, while Luis’ life finally gets some excitement. The comedy in the film comes from the aliens, who will get the most laughs through the film.

Settings – The film takes us to a small town location which shows how the local kid would know how to avoid troubles when it comes to getting away from the people after them.

Animation – The animation is lower quality than the bigger studios, but still works for the story it is trying to tell.


Scene of the Movie – The chase.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The comedy can get a little too silly.

Final Thoughts – This is a cute film that the younger audience will enjoy, it does have a family message which is always important to have.

Overall: Fun and cute.