7/10
Slightly messy film is saved by its humor, heart, and passion.
25 July 2020
Animal Crackers was a rather pleasant surprise. Despite being based on Animal Cracker cookies of all things, the movie managed to exceed my expectations with its creativity, humor, style, and voice acting. The movie follows Owen and Zoe Huntington who, along with their daughter, inherit not only Owen's uncle's Circus, but also a box of Animal Crackers that allows who ever eats them to take the form of that animal. But that's an EXTREMELY paired down synopses because there's also a long standing feud with Owen's still living uncle Horatio, animosity between Owen and his father in law, a subplot involving a dog biscuit flavor like people food, and a few other speed bumps along the way. However, while the story can sometimes feel overcluttered with too many moving parts, it does make up for it with its creativity and economically delivered style. This is not a Pixar or Dreamworks movie so it's best to set your expectations before hand. With that said, despite this being an independently produced animated film it still looks vibrant with lots of details including a very well staged scene set to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now that's filled with creative transitions, smooth animation, and vibrant colors. The movies third act falls apart at the end especially since the antagonists does an abrupt turn and changes character from an egotistical jerk to a power mad villain bent on world domination(yes, seriously), but even despite its faults I do recommend it because it is well made, the performances are well delivered with good chemistry between the actors and you can certainly do worse in terms of family films. So marginal recommendation.
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