Comments on: Indie-Mation Club Week 7: ‘FernGully: The Last Rainforest’ Review

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 00:53:00 +0000

On its own, this a yawn-fest with tolerable moments. As a contributor the groan-inducing tradition in animation of condescending environmental messages coupled with mediocre films (Norm of the North, Rio 2, Once Upon a Forest, etc) it’s one more drop in a mud puddle.

By: Haley Gilbertson

Haley Gilbertson — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 00:29:00 +0000

Don’t remember THAT much from when I saw it, but do agree the animation is super nice and seeing Robin Williams and Tim Curry in something is gonna be interesting to say the least! Also the music I sorta remember was a pretty chill and fun! 😀

By: Chelsea Warner

Chelsea Warner — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 23:46:00 +0000

I like this movie. Maybe it’s just the nostalgia talking, but I think it has a cool soundtrack and an interesting culture/mythology.

By: Jordan Briskin

Jordan Briskin — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 20:24:00 +0000

I hadn’t really considered how the presence of Hexxus contradicts the message of the story, but looking at it in hindsight, I must admit that I see where you’re coming from. Of course, it’s nowhere near as muddling as the rather confusing way in which they handled the “uprights” in THE SONG OF THE CLOUD FOREST. (You can watch it here as the second half of episode 107 of “The Jim Henson Hour”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWhSBQWTp-A)

Looking at the film’s art direction, I can’t help but detect some similarities between the drawing style of this film and that of THE LITTLE MERMAID. Also, I only just now (after watching the “Land of 1000 Dances” sequence on YouTube) noticed that Pips’ facial structure looks remarkably similar to that of Disney’s own Peter Pan.

Now, onto the music: Alan Silvestri’s score is beautiful (I love how, on the “Complete Score” CD, the ambient sounds of the jungle are actually woven into the music), and the songs scattered throughout are, for the most part, enjoyable, with my favorites being Johnny Clegg’s “Life is a Magic Thing” and Elton John’s “Some Other World.”

Overall, FERNGULLY is an enjoyable film, with likable characters, sprightly animation, and a decent soundtrack, and its environmental themes are enough to make this one of my personal favorite “independent” animated features.

By: Dante Panora

Dante Panora — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:42:00 +0000

Didn’t think of this as an indie film, the environmental message felt so forced I thought it was sponsored by some larger organization.

On a kind of related note, The director of the movie, Bill Kroyer, tried to get a movie called Arrow up and running at Warner Brothers after this movie. It was going to be a noir-ish southern horror movie, and I believe you can find some test footage out on the internet, but it was unfortunately canned. I was shocked to find one of the reasons they gave is that the studio would not allow a romantic relationship between A white man and a black woman in the film. That was shocking even for the mid 90s.