Director: Chuck Powers
Distributor: Splendid Film
Duration: 86 minutes
Ribbit (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Animation movies are something that you can watch all the time, since they mostly have a more light and/or humorous subject. It is always great to see that a movie has a deeper meaning and Ribbit is one those lucky ones. So if you have a more philosophical moment and you have Ribbit lying around, this one is something that you can watch if you don’t mind the somewhat dodgy animations.
Ribbit takes you on a trip through the tropical jungle, namely the Amazon. It is packed with loads of animals, one more colourful or bigger than the other. The story starts at a nice ‘pool party’ as a lot of the animals have packed around a river and are enjoying the cool water. The frogs are present as well of course, since they enjoy living in water. This is when Ribbit (Sean Astin) comes into play but there is something strange about him. Although he’s a frog, he doesn’t like jumping around and he really hates water. His friends are teasing him with these facts, when his best friend Sandy (Cherami Leigh) makes quite a big entrée. She is a flying squirrel that’s great at flying, but not that good with landings. Next to that, she’s really popular with all the other animals.
Although the party has just started, Ribbit already leaves the scene. Sandy wants to know what’s wrong with her friend and follows him. Ribbit eventually spills it out: he doesn’t feel like he belongs here. He’s the only poisonous tree frog at the pond and everyone makes fun of him. Eventually, due to circumstances, Ribbit decides to leave and find his place in the world. This is the beginning of a huge exotic trip in which he meets several friends or foes like a vampire bat, a toucan and some other wild and furry animals.
The overall flow of the movie is not that fast and some scenes tend to last quite long. It would have been better if some scenes were shorter and a bit more time was put into character development. It would have been nice if Sandy was more in the foreground as well. She is a key character and we know some background information, but there isn’t that much change during the progression of the story.
Speaking about the story, it has to be said: there is quite a deep meaning underneath the more humorous, airy way it is brought. If you think about it, it is about someone who wants to find his spot in the world or find out why he is even on this planet. You follow the trip and the obstacles someone might face when they’re searching for their inner self. This is a great thing to witness.
The quality of the movie is questionable though. At certain times, it is well done and at other times, it is like we’ve gone back in time for about ten years. The water and fur of the animals are superbly done, just as some of the plants or sand. The splashes of the water on the other hand are really poorly finished and the monkeys seem like they have been drawn in five minutes. The same counts for the animations and transitions between scenes or the movement of animals. As said in the intro, if you mind having to watch dodgy animations or badly drawn parts, this might not be something you want to see.
If you take a look at the actors, it might surprise you who gave Ribbit, Sandy and their feathered friend Terrence a voice. Our colourful frog’s voice was given by Sean Astin, you might know him as ‘Sam’ from The Lord Of The Rings. Sandy’s beautiful vocal sound was done by Cherami Leigh (known from ‘The Walking Tedd’ and other voice overs like ‘Sword Art Online’ and ‘Fairy Tail’), while Tim Curry gave his voice to Terrence. Tim has lend his speech to several characters in a variety of series like Star Wars: The Clone Wars. You can’t really talk about the acting performance, but each voice really fitted the character and the intonation was spot-on as well.
If you’re looking for extras, you’ll be disappointed. Ribbit only has some trailers you can watch, which are different from the ones that are shown at the start of the DVD. What has to be said though, you get a normal DVD and the Blu-ray with both 3D and 2D possibilities.
Conclusion
Ribbit is an okay animation movie that is suited for children and adults alike. That being said, the movie itself suffers from fairly dodgy animations, underdeveloped characters and perhaps some scenes that last a tad too long. Luckily certain things are made up thanks to a decent cast and a few noteable scenes. Perhaps fun to watch together with the family on a lazy Sunday.
Ribbit (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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