The 1970s has kind of a reputation when it comes to animation. See, American animation wasn't doing so well this decade for a number of factors including television censorship and Disney was still trying to figure out what to do after Walt Disney himself died. This isn't to say that the decade was devoid of good, or even great American animation, and this decade did give us a lot of unique pieces, like Ralph Bakshi's take on The Lord of the Rings or Richard Williams' Raggedy Ann & Andy movie. However, the decade had plenty of low-points, I won't deny that, but I think it is fair to also point out some of the higher points in animation... uh, no pun intended. Anyway, this time I'm looking at the 1971 Television Movie, The Point, because... I think it's an interesting piece of animation, and it's available on Tubi.
The story is read by a father to his son, the father serves as our narrator for the story of Oblio, a kid born in the land where everything has a point, literally, everything is pointed, except for Oblio. After he beats the Count's Son at a game, the Count calls upon a tribunal to exile Oblio to the Pointless Forest, but as Oblio explores the forest, he finds that it might not be as pointless as it's named. The film is an adaptation of the 1970 studio album of the same name by Harry Nilsson, and the plot is not all the dissimilar to Yellow Submarine, in that a lot of it is mostly just there to take you from one musical segment to the next. It ain't bad though, I also really like the themes of the story, Oblio ascribing a point to everything even when he's told it's pointless, and there are even some underlying themes at the beginning, with Oblio being exiled for how he was born, one could make the connection between this film and the struggles that people in minority communities, ethnic minorities, disabled and LGBTQIA+ groups especially, have to endure.
I also have to comment on the musical sequences, because they are very unique. This film was done in the early seventies, so the sixties wasn't completely over yet, in a cultural sense really, so you get a lot of bizarre, trippy almost avant-garde musical sequences. That Yellow Submarine comparison wasn't just made for no reason, there was a point to it (Pun intended), because this movie is kind of Yellow Submarine-Lite, and you can see that in the animation. While I love the musical sequences, the animation is very obviously seventies quality, flat colours are everywhere, character designs are pretty basic, lip sync is more like lip-stuttering, basically it looks like what you would imagine a made-for-TV movie from the 1970s would look like. I can't say it's ugly though, on the one hand, I've seen ugly, but on the other hand, it doesn't look unappealing, I never wanted to look away or hated looking at this movie at any point. I dunno, I guess it's middle ground, not great animation, but I have seen way worse.
The characters are pretty charming. Oblio does feel like a real kid, he's curious, kind and interested in the world around him. Seeing as he is the character we spend the most time with, it is good that he has some personality. The other oddities Oblio meets are interesting too, a Rock Man, a Leaf Man who produces leaves to sell, and The Pointed Man, all of their scenes are fascinating. I also should give credit to the voice actors, and a lot of these voice actors are iconic names, golden age voices like Paul Frees, June Foray, Lennie Weinrib and Joan Gerber, these are definitely names that any fans of animation and animation history would, or at least should know, and they are all excellent in their roles, even if Paul Frees has nearly half of the entire cast of characters to voice. Plus, Ringo Starr narrating this version of the movie is a treat, there are other broadcast versions narrated by folks like Dustin Hoffman and Alan Thicke, but Starr's narration is what is available on the Home Release version.
The Point really is a fascinating film, it's one of those productions that you don't really see to often, a unique specimen of music and animation. I can't say it's as strong as Yellow Submarine, but I think it is a much more digestible version, something that kids could watch without being too weirded out. It's another movie that really has a lot of charm to it, charming characters, animation, and plot, but it's really the themes of the story that I think hold this movie together the best. I do think this is something that any animation fan really needs to see, the themes of having a point, I feel, can also reach people on a deeper level, something more philosophical, and beyond that, it's available on Tubi, and probably elsewhere online, so the only real cost is about an hour and fourteen minutes of your time. I can definitely recommend this movie, I think it absolutely deserves to be looked at as more than a curio from the lesser era of American Animation.
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