The Wild
(2006/Disney)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C- Feature: C
Computer
animated features used to be a rare event as they were so expensive to
produce. Like CG visual effects before
them, they were very interesting at first, but unlike CG visual effects, there
has been a branching off in the field.
There are the ones that still impress, amaze and flow nicely with good
writing and ideas (like Disney’s hit Cars),
then you get the features that don’t quite add up. Disney seems to have produced The Wild around the time they were
trying to such features without Pixar, before they bought the company outright.
That
brings us some dated-on-arrival animation, but the theme and idea of talking
animals has become more played out than anything else in CG features, though
Disney pulled off a hit with the non-Pixar feature Chicken Little (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and this just does
not have that kind of life and energy either.
Instead
of a few animals leaving the confines of their Zoo, like Madagascar, all of them escape into New York City and the “fun”
begins. One problem is that too many
productions have let loose on New York and as great a city as it is, this is
one time too many. Also, the 82 minutes
seem long, formulaic and never go anywhere we have not gone before. The Disney “them and all their friends” bit
is beyond tired and the idea of New York being more “wild” nature is a cliché
twisted by a post-9/11 world. Too bad
they did not pick another city, because that could have made this more
interesting as a variant of the usual.
Otherwise, this is for young children only.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image has its moments, but the animation is
usually a tad dated looking and has detail issues. However, it is still clean since it is
all-digital and might look clearer when the Blu-ray arrives. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is fair, but
nothing too exciting. Extras are few and
include a music video, bloopers reel and Eddie Izzard segment, as he voiced a
main character.
- Nicholas Sheffo
