Disco Ormene

Honestly, I was kind of excited about this one at first. I mean, worms doing disco? Sounds like a hilarious concept, right? But man, this movie really missed the mark for me. First off, the animation feels a bit outdated, and not in a charming way. It just lacks that polish that keeps you visually engaged. The worm characters, while trying to be cute, ended up feeling a bit bland and one-dimensional. I can't even remember their names! The syory just drags on and gets super predictable. The jokes and puns really don't land either, they're cliché and honestly cringy, which is a shame because I was hoping for some clever worm-related humor. The music, which should've been the highlight given the disco theme, was mostly forgettable, and it felt like they were trying too hard to make it catchy but ended up with tunes that made me want to zone out.

This film had a fun idea but just didn't deliver. It sure had potential, but it fell flat, leaving me wishing I'd spent my time watching something else.

When I saw the first trailer I was rather skeptical about another animated movie made to promote celebrities through giving them voice roles and singing old hits all over again. I was surprised to see that it was actually very well done. The version which I watched was dubbed by Polish soap-opera actors, pop-rock singers and talent-show jurors so every worm got a celebrity matching their character and the arrangements of songs were very well done. My wild guess is that other language versions worked in a similar way.

The animation is fairly nice, with many background details and fantastically designed body language of the worms whose tail-gestures make up for the lack of arms.

The plot is very predictable, so I won't even try to spoil it. The movie reminds us that we should never give up on dreams, follow our heart, be proud of our children whatever they are good at, believe in ourselves and our friends, be able to express ourselves and not be posers. Rather typical stuff, but good to be reminded of from time to time.

A very good point of the movie is that it is suitable for people of all ages. Children will follow the simple plot, teenagers will laugh at the characters and adults will pick up the satire on relations between generations and the dull life of working people.

I recommend it to families with children and suggest some dancing during the final scene and credits.

Bjarne is coming of age. His mother is immensely frightened that her little worm will be unable to drop his childhood follies and focus on his new work at a waste processing plant. Unfortunately for her she is right as Bjarne indulges into his new passion: creating a disco band and scooping up a huge prize at the talent competition. This leads him to create Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms. On bass: his best friend the extremely overweight Jimmy. On guitar: metal-head Niller: On backup vocals: pretty-worm Gloria. On drums: secretary music-extraordinaire Donna.

A mildly entertaining affair, which starts of a bit tedious and uninspiring, but actually manages to hit the funk somewhere towards the end with a couple of nicely sold gags plus surprisingly well-scripted (albeit extremely predictable) plotting. Even though the characters are mostly unsympathetic (save for maybe the characters of Niller and Donna) the movie manages to hit home with the boogie. I really must say that I was taken slightly by surprise, as I was expecting a semi-digested turd, but instead actually found myself enjoying the final third of the movie.

The movie will never get applauds for innovative script or spectacular jokes, while the charm is all over the place, but the essential question is whether the disco fever will channel through your body by the end. In my case I would have to say yes.

School holiday season would dictate more animated and family oriented films being released in the theatres, and while we would rue at having to wait until September for Pixar's Up, we have to make do with the rather lacklustre Monsters vs Aliens with 3D gimmick, and the little unknowns (pardon the pun) like Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms, set in the insect kingdom with earthworms species being put in the spotlight.

I suppose it's a challenge to animate earthworms. After all, they're tiny, they're slimy, and you just can't tell heads over tails. But no matter, this Danish animation managed to have it all worked out, fusing disco singing and dancing, with an effective, if not tried and tested, formula about turning zeroes into heroes. Released as the dubbed English version here, the animation is easy on the eyes, going for a very clean look with just enough visual details that prevent it from clogging up your senses. Disco lovers will no doubt find themselves tapping to famous tunes of the Disco era, such as Blame it on the Boogie and evergreens from the Village People, amongst others.

But I was rather surprised and pleased at the more mature theme a show for kids had attempted to tackle, and that's on discrimination. It's set very early on in the film that the earthworms are of lower caste in the insect kingdom, getting no respect or love from the larger community, just because they are at the bottom of the foodchain, having no valued skills other than to maintain the compost of their shared habitat. Literally the poop job if you'd like, and having a career none other than to do that for the rest of their lives. One cannot even aspire to be the CEO of their compost company, because it's a position reserved for other insects to manage over them.

So dreamers like the titular Barry, who dreams of being a disco singer/dancer with his own band, have no place in the community for his lack of willingness to conform, unlike best pal Tito, a fat worm looked down upon and being made fun of because of its weight. Barry finds his true calling one day when he gets passed down his dad's old box to help him in his middle-management examinations, and soon finds enough inspiration to turn his dream into reality, even if it means dodging his protective mother's queries, and having absolutely no clue going about doing so, assembling a rag-tag team of worms with raw talent that needs plenty of polishing.

Throw in a romance subplot, and a chief adversary in the form of a ballad crooning beetle who sees them as a rival in their bid to win 10 Grand in a Top of the Pops equivalent contest, and you have a neat film which has great musical tracks and a simple story with a main theme that children can grasp onto. It's a little inspiring as well with the entrenched thought of dreaming big, and working at making one's dreams come true, with what matters being the journey and the experience gained, not everything focused solely on the destination and material goals.

This is the story about friends grounded to the corporation jobs. In their world you cannot be somebody if you do not agree with the corporationism. Work, eat, sleep are only allowed activities. Is it not the same as we have in our world ?. Film required deep understanding and this is not film for young children because they will not able to understand what is going on. This is not film for everybody.