[yasr_overall_rating]
A daring parrot recounts how Robinson Crusoe came to be stranded on a tropical island.
This cartoon movie is based loosely on Robinson Crusoe’s experience of being shipwrecked on a tropical island, with a bunch of talking animals as his haphazard sidekicks. Even the parrot, Tuesday, who is the narrator for the duration of this lackluster children’s movie, is forgettable. The only redeeming quality of this misadventure is stunning graphics with attention to detail. Matthias Schweighöfer, an up-and-coming German actor, is the voice of Crusoe, who spends the movie bungling up life on the tropical island. The basic premise boils down to a cat and mouse chase. The maniacal cats are unrealistic predators in comparison to animals who would be representative of predators in the tropics.
The supporting characters are all animals lacking personality and humor. Trying to even decipher what species most of the animals are requires more effort than is necessary for a children’s film. The list of sidekicks include Rosie, who is possibly a wild boar meant to be the strong female lead, Pango, a scaly creature of undetermined species, Epi the porcupine, who more closely resembles a hedgehog, Scrubby, an old coot goat, Kiki, some kind of bird, and Carmello the chameleon, the only character with charm. Crusoe’s dog is sacrificed in the film, although he is not missed. No explanation is given for why most of the animals are on a tropical island; maybe, like their new human companion, they were shipwrecked as well. The movie would have been more enjoyable had Robinson been able to magically communicate with the animals instead of them only being able to communicate amongst themselves.
The film opens with Robinson Crusoe precariously rescued/captured by pirates after several months shipwrecked on his little island with just the animals for entertainment. The tenacious parrot explains to a couple of mice aboard the pirate ship how his human friend came to be on the island. Desperate for adventure, Crusoe took to the open seas as a passenger aboard a ship. His stomach does not take well to his actions, and an approaching storm does little to improve his situation when he finds some demonic cats determined to steal some chickens for their supper and scolds the mangy felines before locking them in the bottom deck. The cats are marooned on the island along with Crusoe when the storm shreds the ship right on a rocky coast. The local critters, led by Tuesday the parrot, cautiously seek to find out if Crusoe is friend or foe as the felines scuttle away to plot revenge on the inept human who ruined their meal.
Slowly the adventurous parrot convinces his friends the new additions to the island, Crusoe and his dog, are proof of more to the world than just their tiny isle. The animals and Crusoe work on building a treehouse and other amenities while the cats plot their revenge by growing several litters of kittens as a cat army. When the creepy kittens are of fighting age, they exact their vengeance by destroying the tree house and trying to take Crusoe’s sidekicks as a multi-course meal. Somehow, the team of misfits spoils the cats attempts at murder with teamwork. This is when the pirate ship finds an unconscious Robinson and takes him aboard the ship. Once awake he is told he will be a pirate too or ‘walk the plank.’ With assistance from the parrot, Robinson chooses to return to his beloved island, accepting that he will never return home. The villainous kitties decide to remain aboard the pirate ship believing their chances of food are stronger aboard the wooden vessel.
During the movie, I could hear children requesting to leave as the cartoon failed to retain their interest and I found myself close to sleep from the underdeveloped script. The characters’ lack of charm blundered any attempt to make a connection with each other or with the audience. The plot was lost in too many attempts at disappointing humor. This film is incapable of rousing the audience to laughter despite several fires, items dropped on heads, and animals making life difficult for Robinson Crusoe. This movie should have gone straight to DVD as it was unable to engage children even accidentally.
In theaters Friday, September 9th
