When I was looking at the trailer, I was expecting this movie to be AMAZING; and I mean amazing songs, animation that looks like it has FINALLY caught up with other animated films, and GREAT character chemistry.
But unfortunately, the movie didn't ANY of my excited anticipation. The one song that I THOUGHT I would love ended up sounding mediocre at best, especially when it BARELY got any attention in the narrative.
The animation is a mixed bag for me, personally. The backgrounds, scenery and atmosphere all look GREAT, but at times the colours look off, and don't seem to blend well. The character designs themselves sometimes move too fast, and end up looking JARRING, because they don't have any sense of motion blur, especially when they don't seem to be very well integrated with the backgrounds. The settings themselves either look underwhelming, or barley got ANY screen time to let the viewer sink in the moment, or atmosphere.
The characters themselves are okay, but don't leave a very strong impression. And the chemistry you WOULD expect, just isn't there. They aren't TERRIBLE, but they aren't full of charm, wit or memorability either. And that's all I really have to say on the characters.
Overall, I was disappointed. I THOUGHT this would have been a pleasant, charming film, and while there are SOME bits and pieces of pleasantness, you never really FEEL the sentiment that the movie wants to deliver to you. Everything about the film could have been better; The animation could have been better, the songs could have been better, the message of teamwork could have been better with some better character chemistry, and even the story could have gained more SUBSTANCE to it. Even as a DIRECT TO DVD film, I felt like it could have had more substance. That's all I'm asking for.
But unfortunately, the movie didn't ANY of my excited anticipation. The one song that I THOUGHT I would love ended up sounding mediocre at best, especially when it BARELY got any attention in the narrative.
The animation is a mixed bag for me, personally. The backgrounds, scenery and atmosphere all look GREAT, but at times the colours look off, and don't seem to blend well. The character designs themselves sometimes move too fast, and end up looking JARRING, because they don't have any sense of motion blur, especially when they don't seem to be very well integrated with the backgrounds. The settings themselves either look underwhelming, or barley got ANY screen time to let the viewer sink in the moment, or atmosphere.
The characters themselves are okay, but don't leave a very strong impression. And the chemistry you WOULD expect, just isn't there. They aren't TERRIBLE, but they aren't full of charm, wit or memorability either. And that's all I really have to say on the characters.
Overall, I was disappointed. I THOUGHT this would have been a pleasant, charming film, and while there are SOME bits and pieces of pleasantness, you never really FEEL the sentiment that the movie wants to deliver to you. Everything about the film could have been better; The animation could have been better, the songs could have been better, the message of teamwork could have been better with some better character chemistry, and even the story could have gained more SUBSTANCE to it. Even as a DIRECT TO DVD film, I felt like it could have had more substance. That's all I'm asking for.