Movie Review: The Pebble and the Penguin (1995): There's a really good movie in here

Well... hiatus was fun, but I want to get back to what this blog was meant to be about, exploring the vast world of animation, experiencing the weird, wonderful and creative works that such a wonderful medium can bring us. When it comes to wonderful, there are very few names to make that word synonymous with animation as Don Bluth, a former Disney animator striking off on his own in the 80s, he made movies that not only rivalled Disney, but in many cases usurped Disney's throne. The Secret of NIMH and The Land Before Time are fantastic movies that define the medium and show that not all amazing animation has to come from Disney. So what happened in the 90s? In my review of Rock-A-Doodle, I posited the idea that the movies that Don Bluth wanted to make became more passe in the Disney Renaissance and someone pushed him to adapt to the changing landscape of the 90s, and what followed was some of his... more odd film making attempts. Case in point, The Pebble and the Penguin. Why does that line sound so familiar?

The Pebble and the Penguin follows Hubie, an Adélie Penguin who falls in love with a girl named Marina, and wishes to propose to her with a pebble, however he gets tossed aside by another penguin who has eyes for Marina, a big, hulking obviously designed to be the villain penguin named Drake. Hubie must travel across miles of ocean with a new friend, a Rockhopper Penguin named Rocko, to return to the island before Drake can marry Marina, or she gets banished by law. Overall, I'd say the story is... halfway solid. There is an idea here, and it does almost work. What is the biggest flaw? I guess it would be that it's a bit too formulaic, but it's not too bad in that regard. Obvious tropes like the "friends squabbling only to make up later" and the "Fake Out Death" are here, but for a kids movie, the plot isn't all that bad. I guess it could have probably benefited from fleshing out a few things, like for the most part we completely forget about Marina and Drake save for little snippets before the climax.

Maybe it would have been nice to spend more time with the characters, because they have some charm to them. Hubie is a shy but good-hearted guy, and it might just be that I am soft for this kind of character, but I can't hate him, plus he kicks a leopard seal in the face, that's pretty awesome. Marina is kind of bland, but to be fair, they do give a little moment to explain why she likes Hubie, I love it when the unrequited crush is not actually completely unrequited, and it's clear from the get-go that Marina does actually like Hubie. Really, the worst character in the movie is sadly the villain, Drake, who is just a bland and boring entitled jerk, like come on, I don't need uncomfortably buff Penguin version of Gaston. Sadly, it does not help that he is voiced by Tim Curry, and as much as I love Tim Curry, something about this performance didn't quite work, Tim Curry works as the slimy and sinister evil, not really the pompous and arrogant evil. He is more Maleficent brand evil and less Cruella brand.

This is not to say that the voice acting is subpar, for the most part there are some good talents here. Shani Wallis is the narrator and she does have that voice for it, Jim Belushi as Rocko is pretty good casting, and Annie Golden as Marina was actually really good. Plus, there are cameo appearances by names like Will Ryan, B. J. Ward, Pat Musick, Maggie Roswell, and Scott Bullock who is known for his role as Hades in Kid Icarus: Uprising. Really, it is just Martin Short and Tim Curry who I don't fully gel with, Martin Short as Hubie does feel like good casting, he does have a voice that fits the kind of pathetic but lovable character Hubie is, I guess I just can't separate him from B.E.N. from Treasure Planet, which would come out about seven years later.

Then we have the songs, and the songs are absolutely, complete, one-hundred and ten percent okay. They're fine. I'm probably not going to be humming them, except for the Good Ship Misery song, and Tim Curry's villain song is sadly one of the less good songs in the movie, though least good might go to Martin Short and Jim Belushi's duet. I might flip flop on which one is the worst. Really, the biggest problem is just that the songs are just kind of... there. They fill their purpose and do nothing beyond that. I could imagine a soundtrack by Alan Menkin or Elton John, but instead we got Barry Mannilow. Well, I can think of worse people to get for the music of this movie.

Then we have the animation, and if you want a drinking game that will leave you with a hangover that makes you wish alcohol was banned, take a shot every time you notice an animation error in this movie. I've caught a few, characters in the background being frozen, which also happens during song sequences where they should be singing along in, in some cases you might find unfinished animation, I even think Hubie's hat was coloured incorrectly once. That being said, when the animation is actually animated it is pretty good. Don Bluth is a fantastic animator, and while I don't think this is as good as his early stuff, honestly there are times I think it gets close, like within earshot of something like Secret of NIMH. Really, I get the feeling this movie was rushed for a deadline, and if it had more time to get ironed out, this could have been Don Bluth's best movie since the 1980s instead of his least bad movie of his flop era.

Really that is the biggest problem with The Pebble and the Penguin, instead of being his best movie in a while, it's his least bad movie of a bunch, and that is a darn shame. The movie just needed some more time to iron out the wrinkles, mostly in the script and animation. I get why people can be nostalgic about this movie, I see it, I see a really good movie in here, it's just a shame we didn't get that. I'd actually really like to see an early draft script for this movie because I really do wonder what this movie could have been. Imagine a remake with rewritten songs and more time to flesh out the characters but with the same, or similar traditional animation. Still, I should focus on what we have instead of what could have been, and what we have is alright, like I wouldn't mind showing this to kids, I know the endorsement of "There are worse movies" is not a very... high endorsement, but still, I can't see this movie causing any harm.

The Secret of NIMH (1982) - A truly amazing and timeless classic

The 1980s was an amazing decade for a lot of reasons, awesome music, hilariously awful fashion, video games becoming popular, and animation getting out of the rut it has been in since at least the forties. You see, the eighties was the last decade that the "it's for kids" mentality was really a driving force of the animation being made. It still exists mind you, but nowadays we have an understanding that animation can be made for anyone. This idea really did begin in the seventies with Ralph Bakshi, but it became more of an explored concept in the eighties with releases like Heavy Metal in 1981, Akira and Grave of the Fireflies in 1988 and The Simpsons in 1989. On top of that, we also got a lot more adult children's films, ranging from The Fox and the Hound (one of my personal favourites) and the works of Don Bluth. After he left Disney, he made some of the greatest animated features of the 1980s, starting with The Secret of NIMH.

The Secret of NIMH tells the story of a field mouse named Mrs. Birsby, as she must find a way to move off of her field to avoid getting her and her children killed by the farmer's plow. However, as one of her children is sick and cannot be moved, she must seek help from the Rats, who come from a scientific research lab and have gained superior intelligence. Here, she learns the past of her deceased husband and meets the elder Nicodemus, who tells of her their plans to leave the farm altogether and live independently. However, a power hungry rat named Jenner wishes to sabotage the plans and stay in the rosebush they inhabit. The plot is loosely based on a book, which, this time I have actually read, but a long time ago, I was in Middle School when I read it. So, like usual, I am unable to comment on book accuracy.

As for the plot itself, it is solid. We get to see the motivations of characters and why they do what they do. We see why Mrs. Brisby goes to rough lengths to save her family, why Jenner is in favour of the moving project, and it is seeing these motivations that makes the plot stronger and the characters more interesting.

Speaking of which, when it comes to characters, this movie is almost perfect. Mrs. Brisby is a great character, she's timid and worrisome, but also brave and determined. She'll do whatever it takes to save her family, risking the same fate as her late husband. The rest of the characters are fine, Justin is your typical "Leader-to-be" character, Jenner is your typical treacherous villain, Nicodemus is your typical old wise man, they aren't bad characters, they're actually great characters, and dialogues they have are always interesting, it is more that their motivations won't necessarily shock you. The only character I really found myself disliking was the crow Jeremy, which is kind of funny because Crows are my favourite bird. Jeremy was just really annoying to me, and I get that was kind of the idea, but I found myself really annoyed by him at times. I found myself fast forwarding through his scenes a lot, I really could not stand him.

While the eighties is not knows for super pretty animation, I do think that this movie looks amazing. Don Bluth is an amazing animator and while there are no visible animation errors, the real treat is the design and colours. The design of the home of the rats is really cool, and seeing a lot of the lights is neat. The colour scheme is also nicely varied, a lot of scenes are bright and colourful, others are dark and moody. The canal in the cave is a beautiful and the scene with the Owl is amazing. I have never been more amazed than afraid of a spider in an animated movie, well one that was supposed to be scary anyway. While the movie does have the eighties style to it, it is an aesthetic I enjoy, so it will really come down to your preference on that one. As a whole, the animation is solid, and really does showcase the talents of Don Bluth and his team.

The Secret of NIMH is a wonderful movie. It has a solid plot, identifiable motivations, wonderful characters, amazing background design, smooth animation, beautiful colours, this is a must see for any animation fan. Really, most of the Don Bluth catalogue is worth checking out. He really did some incredible movies, and I really hope we get that Dragon's Lair movie soon. As for The Secret of NIMH, it is a timeless classic that many kids and adults will love. While it is not one of my all time favourites, I still think this movie has earned a High Recommendation.