Doogal (2006)
Doogal: Daniel Tay
Dylan: Jimmy Fallon
Ermintrude: Whoopi Goldberg
Brian: William H. Macy
Zeebad: Jon Stewart
Zebedee: Ian McKellen
Florence: Kylie Minogue
Moose: Kevin Smith
Soldier Sam: Bill Hader
Narrator: Judi Dench
The Weinstein Company presents a film directed by Dave Borthwick, Jean Duval, and Frank Passingham. Written by Paul Bassett, Serge Danot, Tad Safran, Raolf Sanoussi, Stephane Sanoussi.
Running Time: 77 minutes
Rated G
Release Date: February 24, 2006
Review Date: May 24, 2006
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Doogal serves as a reminder of two things - not everything is a good way to pass the time when you can't sleep and just because a movie is computer animated, that doesn't mean it's good. While I am surely not in this film's target demographic, it is so obvious that all of the parties involved in Doogal were just trying to collect a paycheck I can't help but express my disgust.
The story of Doogal is a bizarre one that isn't set up very well. One moment we're in Super Happy Fun Land (or whereever it is these creatures come from) and the next our heroes are on an adventure to stop the evil Zeebad (Stewart) - a giant spring who shoots ice from his mustache and wants to freeze the sun. After the extremely annoying Doogal (Tay) wrecks an innocent man's truck while trying to steal candy from him (and he's supposed to be our hero, remember?), Zeebad is somehow set free and must go collect three diamonds in order to destroy the world. The only way Zeebad can be stopped is if Doogal and friends go get the diamonds themselves. That's about how deep this whole thing is explained.
You see, all Doogal really is - to me, at least - is a lamebrained excuse for one pop culture reference after another. There is one scene where there had to have been a good half dozen references to other movies. Among the films referenced are The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, Pulp Fiction, The Shining, Pirates of the Caribbean, and countless others in the film's run time of a little over an hour. I guess with all of those crummy pop culture references, there wasn't much time for anything else.
That's not to say Doogal constantly falls flat on its face. I chuckled three, maybe four times throughout the film - which is about three or four more times than I expected. But that doesn't keep the film from being a mess. It is painfully obvious throughout that the voice talent weren't working anywhere near each other when laying down their audio tracks. The film is just one soundbite after another.
In terms of animation, some of the scenery is beautiful and very well done. However, at the same time, a lot of the words don't even synch up with the lips of the character who is speaking them. I'm pretty sure that for every line Kevin Smith uttered as a farting moose (seriously) the moose's lips never even moved. When the whole ball of bad dialogue, bad animation, and a bad story come rolling together, what do you get? A pile of Doogal, I suppose.
When Jimmy Fallon is the funniest part of your movie, it sucks.
* (out of ****)