Bunyan & Babe

I had a hard time deciding on the star rating for this show. Bunyan & Babe is cute, but it doesn't get much farther than that. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't a bad movie, and the kids were thoroughly entertained, but at times it was difficult to sit through. I think the biggest hurdle to overcome was the quality of animation. With household names on the cover (John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer, Jeff Foxworthy) I expected something more. As long as you're not expecting more than Toy Story 1 era animation, you won't be disappointed. Jeff Foxworthy did a good job as Babe though, and provided some much-needed comic relief. All in all, it was just OK. The kids enjoyed it, which was the most important thing. At the end of the day, though, it's forgettable. Pity.

I'm generous rating children's movies, after all I'm an adult now and who am I to make the judgement of a 6 year old. What I do judge is dangerous content and this movie contains a segment early on where the boy flees from a pursuer on a bicycle and escapes by sliding his bike under a moving vehicle. Sorry. Even after explaining to my child repeatedly this is not a safe thing to do, the damage has been done and the imagery etched into her mind. Bad bad concept from these producers that should have been edited out of the final cut.

The actors and idea of the movie I enjoyed. The animation not so much. My primary beef with the movie though is the attack on the idea of fairy tales and capitalism. There was a primary theme of anti-greed which I agree with, but most of the film smacked of liberal fanaticism. Normally I wouldn't have mentioned anything but merely deleted the film. However, what struck me as odd was the free offer from Google of a film that seems bent on indoctrination. Not to the extent of Ice Age but indoctrination nonetheless. Thanks Google, but no thanks.