FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

So is this movie incredibly beat you over the head level of heavy handed with the environmental message? Yes. Of course it is. But that's the idea. And honestly, I feel it was very well done.I remember watching this movie as a kid and really enjoying it. I recently watched it again, and liked it just as much as when I was little. The characters are fun, the songs are memorable, and the animation is still beautiful even now. I remember that this was one of the movies that really got me into the idea of conservation and recycling. So hey, at least its message didn't go to waste.Tim Curry of course is excellent as the villain, because..let's face it, Tim Curry plays a villain as often as Sean Bean's characters die. This movie is totally a product of the 90's though as when you go back and watch it now the lingo and technology is a little painful. It's a movie of patience, understanding, and taking care of our environment with some bittersweet romance thrown in. To me it's like if the Little Mermaid was good. This film isn't the best thing ever, but it is still a solid watch and I recommend it.

20th Century Fox's animated fantasy film might have been lost in the early/mid-1990s, but its message remains timeless and its substance underrated. Beautiful animation, fitting voice actors and well-thought musical numbers all weave a wonderful story about an Australian rainforest inhabited by fairies, one of which befriends lumberjack Ward who is unwittingly playing a part in destroying FernGully. Mathis is perfectly sweet as the curious fairy who tries to guide her new human friend into understanding the damage his kind is inflicting on the natural world, and what a great importance it is to preserve nature; Williams is hilarious as Batty Koda, though his role now seems sort of like an underwhelming version of Genie from ALADDIN; and Curry is chilling even as a cartoon character! ***½ (out of four)

This eco-friendly animated feature is a children's environmental fantasy about a tropical paradise protected by guardian fairies, one of whom (a cute Tinkerbell look-alike) develops a crush on the first human she ever sees, after helping him mend his ignorant, woodcutting ways. Of course she first has shrink him down to fairy size, in much the same way that the script likewise reduces its message to a basic cartoon conflict between good and evil, with plenty of post-George Lucas mysticism. Some of the animation is fine, if only the film paused show it off; the pace is set to match a TV-ruined attention span, which at least has one advantage: none of the songs is more than 40 seconds long. Parents may feel obligated to drag their kids to see it, but don't be fooled: Ferngully cheats on its ecology lesson by suggesting that the rainforest has magical powers of restoration, which it certainly doesn't, and if we teach our kids to start relying on fairies to save the Earth we're all in big trouble. The best voices are provided by toxic sludge monster Tim Curry and dingbat Robin Williams.

Here we go again with yet another preachy left wing propaganda film disguised as a family friendly cartoon used to indoctrinate innocent young kids into their warped world of Marxist secular new age earth worshiping, humanity hating anti capitalist mindset. Like in all films of this genre, it starts off in a happy pristine village with happy playful little people who sing, play, dance and enjoy every second of their existence until the evil capitalists (aka You) invades and pillages their land and plunders their resources and leaves their once peaceful village into a smoldering pile of rubble and forces them to eat their children and drink their blood to survive. But one of the evil ones has a good heart and befriends the once happy little people and learns about their "enlightened" ways and tells off the other meanies.This movie was an obvious pot shot at the logging industry (and capitalism) yet I'd love to go to the mansions of the producers, directors, and cast and see how many wood products I can find in their homes and determine how many trees were cut down to supply them with their comfortable lifestyles. As usual, you're the bad guy who is polluting the earth and destroying the environment with your greedy capitalist ways but not them.