New Continent, New Rainforest

Our next movie is, like The Jungle Book, set in a rainforest. However, this time the rainforest is in Australia. "Australia? I thought Australia was nothing but deserted outback!" Well, it's got rainforests too. But enough about that. Let's cut to the chase and introduce our next movie.

FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Original release: April 10, 1992

This is not a Disney movie. Rather, it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. This could explain its lack of popularity as opposed to, say, The Little Mermaid or the like. Still, it has attracted a following, including Mah and I.

Each person calls this movie something a little different. Some call it sweet, others preachy; some powerful, others propaganda. That is because the storyline of the movie centers around halting the destruction of a natural habitat. We'll leave it up to you to decide whether it's something more people should see, fewer people should see, or neither. But I do invite you to watch it yourself first before making your decision.

The most impressive thing about this movie is how well it captures the majesty and complexity of the Australian rainforest. Through a combination of well-researched backdrops and a haunting, reverberating score, I'd say the setting is portrayed quite well. In fact, let's talk a bit more about the score. The movie alternates between New-Agey tribal-like singing and chants (which sound pretty darn awesome) and more popular songs with a beat. My two favorites are "Life is a Magic Thing" and "A Dream Worth Keeping." For the most part, I think the songs work well and don't disrupt the flow of the movie. (The only exception is Raffi's "It's Raining Like Magic," which shows up kind of randomly and only plays for about 40 seconds.) To see what I'm talking about, feel free to watch the first four minutes or so of the movie, shown below.



Many critics have complained about the"cookie-cutter characters" that lack any interesting and original traits or mannerisms. I agree to this view to an extent. However, though the characters may not be the most outstanding, they all have very realistic progressions throughout the movie. You have a slightly ditsy teenager who, through acquiring understanding of the world, finally gets a decent grasp of her magic skills; the ignorant city kid who comes to love the wild after being exposed to it; the carefree but protective boyfriend who suddenly finds his position threatened; and more. Of course, I couldn't do a write-up of this movie without mentioning everyone's favorite character, Batty Koda. This off-the-hinges fruit bat steals the show whenever he's on screen, probably due to Robin Williams' genius voice work. Check out some of his top moments below. (Warning: plot spoilers.)



Annoyingly, the animation quality of this movie is a little bit below par—that is, the standard I have come to expect from watching too many movies from Disney and Studio Ghibli. But it's still very likeable, and as I said before, the scenery is stunning. So, though it's not the best movie, it's cute and colorful...and definitely worth a look.

Mahewa's rating: 3.2/5




Check out some reviews from The New York Times, The Austin Chronicle, and The Washington Post.