Les aventures de Zak et Crysta dans la forêt tropicale de FernGully

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.

I remember loving this when it first came out and I was only about 10 years old. I recently came upon a couple of the books that I had saved of the movie and that got me thinking back on this. I haven't seen it in years, but I just bought it and can't help but love it. I love the visuals, colors and overall look of the film. And of course, Robin Williams as Batty Koda was hilarious. In describing humans, "They walk around like 'Hi Helen!'" I love the message most of all, and it does a good job of representing the greed and destruction of our times through images, actions and dialogue. I especially love how the fairy Crysta is so in touch with nature and its feelings that she can touch a tree and we literally see its energy flow into her. She shows this to the human, Zak, who, like every other human, is out of tune with nature and its feelings. Gradually, though, he too feels it, and all it took was for someone to wake him up to it. That's all it takes for us, too. We needed something like this movie to be made in order to wake some of us up to what we're doing. It may sound cliche or like a lecture, but it's one that needs to be said and for that I'm thankful to Ferngully and the people behind it who believed enough in the message they were attempting to get across. I read it loud and clear.

I hate getting a film you loved as a child and watching it as an adult only to find it's completely lost it's magic over time. Having pushed all my videos to the back of a dark cupboard, I hadn't actually watched the film in years until I bought it last week on DVD.

Ferngully has it's problems, some of the songs were written with the days music heavily in the forefront so they haven't really stood the test of time. The overall message of taking care of the environment will seem heavy handed to an adult, although I remember feeling inspired by it as a child.

That aside I cannot vault the voice acting, Tim Curry, Robin Williams, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, they all deliver great performances. The animation is terrific and looks very much like Disney movies of the time. The stories hero's are compelling to watch, you really do care about what happens to them as it progresses to the climax, all this is woven together with touching little moments in the animation and a clever and funny set of supporting characters.

Will children today enjoy it? I'd say let them watch it, everyone has their own tastes and preferences and it's no different with children. They'll either like it or they won't.

I'm not sure if an adult who missed it as a child will enjoy it, again I think it depends on the person, but if this was a part of your childhood, it might be worth seeing it again I think it still definitely has a place in my heart.

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.

This movie is one of my all time favourites, it is just beautiful and very underrated, if a little short. The songs and score by Alan Silvestri,were very good, and some of the comments were unfair. Batty rap was wonderful, with great ad-libbing thrown into the mix. Toxic Love matched the character of Hexxus wonderfully. Hexxus is slimy and untrustworthy, shown perfectly in the song. A Dream Worth Keeping was my favourite song, and was essential for the relationship of Zak and Crysta. The lyrics were beautiful, and matched the animation surprisingly well. The animation was also beautiful, very colourful and vibrant. The forest was expertly animated like a fairytopia. I remember when I first saw it when I was 9 and being terrified of the villain. Speaking of Hexxus, the character was animated by Kathy Ziellinski, who also animated Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and the Cobra (Aladdin). The voice talents were excellent too. Zak was a nice romantic interest, and Crysta-one spunky vivacious fairy- was excellently voiced by Samantha Mathis. Hexxus was chillingly voiced by the quintessential Tim Curry, and Robin Williams was hilarious as Batty Koda. As for Magi Lune, I mistook her for Angela Lansbury when I first saw the film, and she is a truly fascinating character. The ending was so powerful and poignant, and I love this movie so much, and I am 16. The film also has a good message and a nice story, that isn't at all preachy. The movie's only qualm is that it is too short, and I would've liked Hexxus to be developed a little more. Other than that, I strongly recommend FernGully, and Once Upon a Forest. 9/10. Bethany Cox.