FernGully: Las aventuras de Zak y Crysta

A band of fairies and their human allies must save a primeval rainforest from destruction by a conscienceless lumber company (not to mention a venomously evil entity voiced by Tim Curry). Though basically a Darwinian morality play dressed up in the more palatable medium of a kids' cartoon, FERNGULLY is actually an entertaining and thought-provoking animated masterpiece. Steeped in equal measures Australian mythology and modern-day politics, this movie proves that cartoons need not be about falling anvils and wascally wabbits. Watch out for Robin Williams, who is hilarious as always as a manic bat.

When I was a kid I loved this movie, and I still enjoy it to this day. The colors and animation are wonderful. Anybody could enjoy this movie. I don't get the low rating. Robin Williams and Tim Curry have the greatest voices for the film. They both add a lot to the film. I would highly recommend this for a family film. Also just for the kids as well. It has catchy toons, nice animation, and a fun story to tell. Also, another addition is that it does have great morals. So, parents don't have to worry. Whenever I babysit my little cousins, this is a movie I'd let them watch on any day. I wish there was a possibility to get a higher rating. But sometimes you just have to deal with it. I feel like this movie deserves at least a 7.0. We can only hope, right?

8/10

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)

Ferngully is an example of how to do an educational movie without being boring. It is the story of an Australian rainforest endangered by human development. Zak, one of the worker of a team that is destroying the forest to build a road is shrunk by a fairy (Chrysta) and introduced to the magical world that he was destroying.

The animation is good, with rich colors and gorgeous visuals of the forest. The characters are well designed and funny, the bat Batty being the most hilarious. The music is nice, too, with modern rhythms that mix well with the fast pace of the movie. The best song is the one performed by the bad guy, Hexxus, a literaly slimy demon, that perfectly represents the greed of modern society.

This is a little gem in the Disney-dominated world of animation. Don't miss it.

FernGully is a non-Disney cartoon fairy tale about the importance of protecting forests. It is about a human male shrunk to fairy-size; he learns about fairies, their forest habitat, and soon finds a logging crew he was working with is now threatening their home.

I remember watching FernGully as a kid, I really liked Batty (voiced by Robin Williams) and his song. Rewatching this now, Batty wasn't as hilarious as I remembered but he is one of the better characters of the movie. An insane bat with a radio wired into his head by human scientists, he is quite colourful. The other pretty good character is the villain Hexxus (Tim Curry), who also has a catchy song. He's a poisonous being who apparently thrives on destruction. A shape shifter, he too is well imagined.

Beyond this the fairy characters Crysta and Pips (Christian Slater) and the human Zak are kind of flat. One thing that surprised me is how skimpy Crysta's clothes are (they reveal her hips and midriff)- but I'm not going to pass judgement on whether that's appropriate. Besides flat characters, at times watching this I longed for something more adult. The story was clearly aimed at children. At times this story isn't fully developed- why exactly did Magi disappear? Moreover, the animation is lacking compared to Disney films. Still, 18 years after it came out, families will likely continue to find FernGully enjoyable and its environmental message remains important.