MotW: Fern Gully

Old animation movie

Environment

Scipioafricanus

One of these is not like the others.

Paging Spirit Bomb.

Oh wow, was not expecting this.

Even though I didn't suggest this (obviously), let me just begin by saying that I'm not a fan of Fern Gully. Like most Disney animated films, Fern Gully was a film that most kids here in the states saw either in the theaters or when it was released on video. American animated films from this time were always "easy money" movies because they copied Disney's hugely-successful formula almost exactly, and had a ton of money behind their marketing. It contains far too many Disney tropes that plague american animation for me to enjoy it now. However, there are a few things that make it stand out and save it from complete mediocrity (for me at least).

-The animation on Hexxus was awesome and a real show stealer for anyone with an interest in animation. Much like the Greedy in Raggedy Ann and Andy, he takes on a number of different & extremely interesting forms, ranging from an undulating pile of toxic sludge to a demonic-looking skeleton, and he was voiced by Tim Curry, one of the most eccentric and talented british actors. I also like how Hexxus was a metaphore for CO2, a greenhouse gas. He/It was awesome and alone almost redeems the film, although I still think his default "smog" form looks gay as hell:



-The production values were very good

-Some nice character animation here and there, including a few perspective shots. I also really like that the animals are drawn realistically and not presented as anthropomorphic like in Dinsey films.

-The collossul yellow rainforst-destroying machine was an intriguing and memorable concept, so good in fact that James Cameron stole the idea and used it in Avatar (what a loser).


Nothing else really stood out for me though. A lot of people hate Fern Gully for being a preachy environmentalist film, which all tend to be heavily ridiculed and unpopular here in ultra-conservatve america (Captain Planet is mocked for the same reason), but I dislike the film for playing it safe, having an overall cheap visual style, and relying on childish Disney cliches to sell tickets. Overall I think the film was typical american animation fare, and despite a handful of exceptional stuff (like Hexxus), I have no reason to care about it. In regards to works of environmental fantasy/fiction, Fern Gully is average or slightly below average; it's way better than pretentious public-fodder shit like Avatar and does have at least some memorable stuff in it, but still nowhere near S-tier animation like Nausiccaa or Watership Down.

I'm not going to rate it because I haven't seen it in years. If I did though I think I would give it a 3/5 for the memorable stuff I did enjoy.

 

I can remember a couple other things/moments I liked from the film now that I think about it:

-As someone who briefly studied art I really dig the hand painting scene at the beginning. My memory on the film is fuzzy but that scene always stuck out to me, and I always love it when animated films incorporate paintings into the animation. I love that artsy-fartsy stuff.

-The lyric-less parts of the soundtrack were occasionally very ambient and beautiful. There's that part towards the end where the huge strangler fig tree is closing and accompanying track features very eerie chanting. Impressive stuff. Apparently the film was composed by the same guy who did Predator 2's soundtrack, which was also really impressive and had a similar jungle-vibe to it. (I think he did the original Predator's soundtrack as well)

It may sound like I'm just looking for things to praise but I have to admit that I really did enjoy a handful of things in Fern Gully. I ended up giving it a 3/5 for nostalgic and aesthetic reasons even though I'm not sure it would be that high if I saw it now as an adult. With that said, it is far from the worst american animation out there, and I can think of dozens of worse theatrical american animation out there, like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, most of Don Bluth's films, and We're Back A Dinosaur's Story to name a few. Even within the sub genre of animated american environmental edutainment, I can think of at least one that's way worse than Fern Gully: Once Upon a Forest. As someone who was endlessly force-fed american animation by his parents as a kid, I can confirm that Fern Gully is far from the worst of its kind.

Also, I'd just like to point out that hating a film for having an environmental message or environmental themes is not a valid criticism. So for everyone here who worships powerful american CEOs like Donald Trump that frequently receive global scrutiny for screwing over the environment on a regular basis, please don't hate these films for portraying them as the bad guys.