Think Before You Animal Test (Ferngully Review)
Kat and Ryley read the one-star reviews for the 1992 animated film Ferngully: The Last Rainforest!
Review Overview: Robin Williams and Tim Curry's characters are the only worthwhile part of this movie. Its messaging about saving the planet is fantastic, but it directs all responsibility to the viewer.
The pacing is off. We spend a lot of time with Krista and Zack that should be spent building the tension of the ultimate threat.
The songs are fun and very much of their era. The visuals are absolutely stunning. However, this movie is a lot of nothing. It doesn't do much to explain itself, it just haphazardly throws information at the viewer in hopes that we'll figure it out on our own.
Ryley and Kat: 4/10
EASY BAKE TAKES 0:11
Hello,
Kat 0:12
and welcome to Easy Bake Takes
Ryley 0:15
the podcast
Kat 0:16
where we read you the one star reviews of your favorite movies and more. My name is Kat
Ryley 0:20
and I'm Ryley.
Kat 0:20
Since I picked the theme of movies that I thought I made up but turned out to be real. I picked Ferngully which came out in 1992 and thank god is only an hour and 16 minutes long. It's- okay so it is a fantasy kids movie that is rated G. Quick summary of it and then we'll get into a detailed one. Krista is a fairy who lives in FernGully a rainforest in Australia and has never seen a human before. In fact, she is told they are extinct. But when a logging company comes near the rain forest she sees that they do exist and even accidentally shrinks one of them, a boy named Zak. Now her size, Zak sees the damage that the company does and helps Krista to stop not only them but an evil entity named Hexxus who feeds off pollution. So that's the short summary. Here's the a little more detailed one. So Krista who lives in FernGully it's a picturesque rainforest that's up until this point been untouched by human pollution. Fairies have FernGully once lived in harmony with the humans but they believe that they've gone extinct and believed they were driven away by Hexxus. Krista is an apprentice of Magi Luna, who is a fairy that has imprisoned Hexxus in a tree. One day Krista explores the forest and meets Batty Koda, a bat who claims to have been experimented on by humans giving him a manic and deluded personality. However, fairies refused to believe him except for Krista who volunteers to investigate the situation. She meets Zak, a young lumberjack whom Krista accidentally shrunk when she tried to save him from being crushed by a falling tree, though does not know how to restore him to normal size. The tree that Hexxus is imprisoned in is cut down by Zak supervisors, Tony and Ralph. Hexxus quickly begins to regain his powers by feeding on pollution. He manipulates Tony and Ralph to drive to Ferngully. In Ferngully, Zak meets Pip, a fairy jealous of Zak's relationship with Krista. Zak begins to fall in love with Krista but hides the true reason, also calls her a bodacious babe, but hides the true reason that the humans had returned. When the signs of Hexxus' resurrection begin to manifest themselves in poisoned trees and rivers, Zak finally admits that humans are destroying the forest. The fairies mount an attempt to defend their home. Knowing their fight is hopeless, Zak convinces Batty to aid him and stopping the machine before it destroys them. When Zak makes his presence known to Tony and Ralph, Hexxus takes over the machine and begins wildly destroying the forest. Magi sacrifices herself. To give the fairies a chance, she tells Krista to remember everything she's learned. Zak manages to stop the machine depriving Hexxus the source of his power, but he manifests himself with the oil in the machine and begins to ignite the forest ablaze. Krista sacrifices herself by allowing herself to be devoured by Hexxus and all seems lost until he begins to sprout limbs and leaves like a tree. Batty, Pips and the rest of the fairies rally to the powers they have been given which causes the seed that Krista fed Hexxus to start growing wildly. Hexxus and the machine are both simultaneously imprisoned by the newly grown tree at the very border of FernGully which burst into bloom. Krista appears after the fight having survived and succeeds Magi as a magical fairy. She gives Zak a seed begging him to remember everything that has transpired and she forlornly restores him to human size. Remembering the seed in his hand, Zak promises to remember his adventure and buries the seed in the soil before telling Tony and Ralph that things need to change as they leave the forest behind. The seed sprouts new growth for Fern Gully as Krista playfully chases Pip with Batty, following. The end.
Ryley 3:51
I have lots of comments.
Kat 3:53
Let's get some background and then we'll. So this film was directed by Bill Kroyer, who was a former Disney employee, which seems to be a theme with the last two movies we've done.
Ryley 4:02
Yeah.
Kat 4:03
The movie was written by Jim Cox and is based on the original story by Diane Young. The cast includes Samantha Mathis playing Krista, Christian Slater playing Pips, Jonathan Ward playing Zak, Robin Williams as Batty Koda, Tim Curry as Hexxus.
Ryley 4:17
Hell yeah.
Kat 4:18
Grace Zabriskie as Magi Luna, Tommy Chong as Root and Cheech Marin as Stump.
Ryley 4:23
Hmm.
Kat 4:24
Don't remember those characters.
Ryley 4:25
I could not tell you who they were.
Kat 4:27
So a little bit of trivia before we get into our thoughts. A common criticism that this movie faced, even to this day, is despite the message of saving the trees, it was an animated movie, where trees would have been used to make the paper to animate it.
Ryley 4:40
God dammit. I didn't even think about that. Oh, no. Oh.
Kat 4:46
To counter that a little bit. production time was greatly reduced by the use of computer animation to create elements such as flocks of birds that would have taken much longer to animate traditionally. So they used some computer instead of paper.
Ryley 4:59
Eh. Yeah. Yeah.
Kat 5:02
Tim Curry's original voice recordings were so eerie and sinister that it made children cry during test screenings.
Ryley 5:07
Of course it fucking did, you hired Tim Curry. What the fuck did you want?
Kat 5:11
You hired Pennywise are you kidding.
Ryley 5:14
You got what you wanted.
Kat 5:15
And then Curry had to be called back in for some less intimidating retakes.
Ryley 5:19
Hey Tim, can you tone it down a little? No.
Kat 5:24
A running gag is that Batty, being a bat (and thus short sighted) keeps running into things. Yet, Batty is a fruit bat. These are day animals which have quite good sight, particularly useful to spot berries and fruit to feed on. So Batty wouldn't have had bad eyesight, but I feel like you could also say Batty's a little delusional, so he probably thinks he can't see that well.
Ryley 5:43
Well, he was animal tested on too, so, you can blame anything on that. They put shampoo in his fucking eyes like what do you expect?
Kat 5:50
Two interesting, like things that they had in the credits for this movie is they said "Special thanks to the United States Postal Service for their efforts to raise environmental awareness."
Ryley 5:59
Hmm.
Kat 5:59
The dedication for this movie said "for our children and our children's children,"
Ryley 6:03
Damn. Which is sweet.
Kat 6:05
Yeah, it is is but it also, we'll get into that, I guess.
Ryley 6:08
Yeah
Kat 6:08
Go ahead and tell me what you think about this movie.
Ryley 6:10
Oh, where to begin? Okay, so I watched this an hour ago. And I only watched this movie once while growing up. Probably because tearing down the tree scene and probably Hexxues probably scared me a little too much or overwhelmed me. I was a very environmentally conscious child, anxiety and all that, it never left.
Kat 6:29
Me too.
Ryley 6:30
So it probably bothered me a lot while watching. So when I turned this movie on, I only had little to no memory of this movie. One, didn't know it had songs in it, completely blocked that out, had no clue. Also, there's a scene where Krista is going through his wallet after she shrunk, Zak. And he has a work permit. Did you read the work permit?
Kat 6:37
Didn't it say he's like 5'8 or something?
Ryley 6:49
No he's 5'11. Did you see his age?
Kat 6:54
No.
Ryley 6:55
He's 16 in this movie. That character is supposed to be 16. And he's out in the rain forest cutting down trees. What? Six?
Kat 7:02
It's Australia. Okay.
Ryley 7:03
It's different.
Kat 7:04
It's different. I mean, depending on what what the year is for this, I could believe it. But it's literally like the 90s.
Ryley 7:12
It's like 92. Yeah.
Kat 7:14
So I- you know what, I could see a kid going, like maybe he left school and decided.
Ryley 7:20
Yeah, gonna go to the rainforest and cut down trees.
Kat 7:23
Is this movie gonna give us a reason? No, they're just gonna throw information at us and hope that we figure it out.
Ryley 7:29
I just was like, so thrown off by that. I was like, what? So that was interesting.
Kat 7:34
Yeah I didn't- I guess I didn't notice that.
Ryley 7:36
Just like, overall, this movie is a lot of nothing. It has a great message like, Hey, kids, the rainforest is being cut down. That's not a good thing. Let's be conscious of the like, it's a great message. But a lot of nothing happens in this movie. And there's like a ton of like, they're fairies and they're magical and all that. But that's not really- like their lore of like how they use magic or is not. It's really vague. Like that whole scene where they're all like in the tree. Magi's like giving her powers away to them. And they for whatever reason, turn from green to blue. And then all this fairy dust around. It's like, what's going on? I don't know what's happening. Are they getting powers? What does that mean? Why is this taking 10 minutes? Also, the last 15 minutes of this movie, they only realize Hexxus, the bad villain of this movie, is out of the tree the last 15 minutes of this movie. They don't even know the villains out there until towards the end. This movies a mess.
Kat 8:38
Completely.
Ryley 8:39
It is a messy, choppy filler movie. Great message. But what?
Kat 8:46
Yeah, you said you only watched it once growing up.
Ryley 8:48
I watched it one time. One time.
Kat 8:51
We had it on VHS.
Ryley 8:52
Yeah,
Kat 8:53
I watched it multiple times and I didn't remember any of it.
Ryley 8:57
That should tell you though, like this movie is not- nothing happens in it. What can you remember?
Kat 9:02
It's very pretty though.
Ryley 9:03
It is a very pretty movie. And it does have like 90s animation nostalgia that I did enjoy. Like there's a whole like dance sequence in the water. And there's like some 90s or 80s song playing in the background. I enjoy that. That's always a good time.
Kat 9:19
That's every 90s kids movie song.
Ryley 9:22
There is I'm sure a point in the movie where it is like that.
Kat 9:25
I think that's the end credits song.
Ryley 9:27
I think it is too. But I'm talking about the scene where it's like a slow dance 80s montage. Like they're not talking anything and they're just like running through like pretty backgrounds, whatever.
Kat 9:37
Yeah.
Ryley 9:37
I love that. That's the height of cinema for me.
Kat 9:41
You have to decide if that's enough for you like if it being pretty is enough for you. And I guess for me as a kid, I think it was like it was just a pretty movie to look at.
Ryley 9:50
It was a children's movie like it it's entertaining to a point.
Kat 9:56
The animators actually were on site in Australia to do their and Show sketches for like the backgrounds like in the rain forest in Australia like doing their
Ryley 10:04
So they could hand cut down the trees for the movie.
Kat 10:07
Yeah, they needed- they wanted to have a direct like a farm to farm to table kind of paper source.
Ryley 10:14
Right, right.
Kat 10:15
But yeah, I think I think that's cool that they were
Ryley 10:17
It is.
Kat 10:17
literally sketching in the in the rain forest.
Ryley 10:20
Yes, it's very cool.
Kat 10:23
Chopping the trees down looking for fairies. I genuinely don't remember this movie being a musical.
Ryley 10:31
I don't remember that. I don't remember Robin Williams singing a song.
Kat 10:34
Yeah.
Ryley 10:34
In this movie.
Kat 10:35
I don't regret picking this because it's been a long time since like either of us have picked a movie that we didn't like.
Ryley 10:37
Yeah, yes, that's true.
Kat 10:37
We didn't end up liking it after rewatching it.
Ryley 10:38
This movie is a mess.
Kat 10:38
This movie is a complete mess. It's kind of also on par with like Journey to the Center of the Earth where it's like so forgettable to the point where it's like, I was fully paying attention. It like it makes me feel like there's something wrong with my memory. Like I feel like this movie's gaslighting me.
Ryley 11:01
Yeah.
Kat 11:02
To the point where I don't have a lot of- a lot to say that isn't going to be said in like the critical.
Ryley 11:07
Yeah.
Kat 11:08
So do you have anything else to add?
Ryley 11:09
Princess Mononoke did it better.
Kat 11:12
Oh, so much better.
Ryley 11:13
It's the better version.
Kat 11:15
That is a more subtle, beautiful, interesting version of this movie. This movie is very heavy handed.
Ryley 11:21
Yes.
Kat 11:22
See, kids. It's your fault the trees are getting chopped down. We made this movie for you fuckers.
Ryley 11:28
It's Tim Curry saying this too.
Kat 11:30
How did you feel about Tim Curry's character?
Ryley 11:33
Oh, he does say much. That's the whole thing. Like he has a song and he has a few lines. He's not in this movie a lot.
Kat 11:40
How do you feel about the song toxic love?
Ryley 11:42
Kind of like it.
Kat 11:44
It's It's good, right? It's good.
Ryley 11:46
It's not bad. Like, okay, if there is one highlight to this movie. It's probably that
Kat 11:52
and the the hilariousness of the Batty Rap.
Ryley 11:54
Yes. If you love Robin Williams. Yes. Hi, Helen.
Kat 11:59
Yeah, I was about to say I was like, it's my favorite part. They just walk around and they go Hi, Helen.
Ryley 12:03
They wear bad shorts and just go Hi, Helen. I love that. That that was a good bit.
Kat 12:08
Yes.
Ryley 12:09
Oh, and when he threatens Zak. He's like "Am I dead?" She's like, "No." We could change that.
Kat 12:15
His character is hilarious. I think I liked I liked the movie for him and Hexxus like the gayest characters in the whole movie I loved.
Ryley 12:23
Yup.
Kat 12:24
I just like his little comments in the background like whenever Zak is explaining like what bodacious means and like what like tubular means to to Krista and he's just like, "what a wonderful use of the language."
Ryley 12:37
If you love good old, Robin Williams, like little banter.
Kat 12:41
Chaos.
Ryley 12:42
Yeah, if you if you'd like that, I would honestly just go to YouTube and watch the clips.
Kat 12:46
And he did this movie before he did Aladdin. And you could see a lot of similarities to how he does the genie. I think it's mentioned in one of the critical reviews what they said like this must have been like his practice for Genie. And they were glad that he did FernGully first because the Genie was like a much more controlled version of Batty.
Ryley 13:04
I think it's a little more developed. It's a more well developed version.
Kat 13:08
I think just the fact that they had Robin Williams, they were like, we'll let him do whatever he wants.
Ryley 13:13
Thank you for being here.
Kat 13:15
Thank you for existing and being in our movie, sir. For those two characters alone, I think it's worth at least watching one time.
Ryley 13:22
One time.
Kat 13:22
If you're looking for substance?
Ryley 13:24
Not here.
Kat 13:25
Not here. I don't have anything else to add at this moment.
Ryley 13:29
Same.
Kat 13:29
So on to the critic reviews. I want to mention at the top here that a lot of the critics writing them more recently that have watched it as a kid. They'd forgotten about the film completely, until it was like brought to their attention again. But the first review I have is from 100 films from 2018 written by Richard Nelson and I believe Richard Nelson did like 100 film reviews on this website. It was like 100 films in a year. First off, Nelson mentions that the movie is heavy on its environmental messaging. And though views on environmental activism have changed since the movie was initially released, we still haven't learned much in the three decades since the film came out. They also say that quote, "even more of its time are the musical numbers. They're very 1992 and not in a good way."
Ryley 14:16
Such a good way to describe it.
Kat 14:17
"That said although it's a terrible song if I'm going to eat somebody it might as well be you is one of the best titles ever," end quote.
Ryley 14:25
Okay, I liked that.
Kat 14:27
Williams and Curry standout vocally. And then Curry's characterization and motivation seem underdeveloped, like the rest of the movie does. He's given little to do but the character at least looks good. And then ends with quote, "All in FernGully is a decent little animated adventure, a tad earnest perhaps but not too bad, but it's held back by weak music and a thin plot," end quote.
Ryley 14:48
Um, yeah, I'd probably be a little bit harsher if I were writing this but I get where he's coming from. He still made all the points.
Kat 14:55
As bad as the music is the titles are great.
Ryley 14:57
Titles are great, and I don't know I kinda like if I'm gonna eat somebody, it might as well be you. I kind of liked it, not gonna lie.
Kat 15:05
There's a little wink at the end.
Ryley 15:07
I love that. I don't think that's the worst song in this movie.
Kat 15:11
It really is not. Poor Robin Williams having to learn that Batty Rap.
Ryley 15:14
I know.
Kat 15:16
The next review I have is from Current and was written by Malcolm Johnson in April of 1992. Says that the movie summons memories of Disney's Fantasia, but it delivers more drama and emotion than Fantasia. They just really meant, I think in their review, mentioning the Hexxus part at the end, it reminds them of that the end of Fantasia.
Ryley 15:35
Oh, okay, okay, I can see where you got there.
Kat 15:38
And then says, quote, "clear in its ideas about the destruction of trees and the fabric of nature, yet never naggingly preachy. FernGully makes villains of those who would level rainforests for their exotic woods," end quote.
Ryley 15:50
How can you be the bad guy saying please don't cut down the trees. How can you be the bad guy saying that I don't think it's preachy. I would never describe this movie as preachy.
Kat 15:59
It is heavy handed, though, like.
Ryley 16:00
It's heavy handed like that. That is the message. You're not gonna forget it. But like, I don't, I don't think it's a bad thing.
Kat 16:07
Like they said, it's very clear, and it's ideas, but not preachy. I guess, maybe I'm mixing heavy handed and preachy in the same thing, but I guess they're not exactly the same thing. But also, Johnson likes that the movie has a decidedly independent female hero. Praises the music and the animation and praises Curry and Williams. And ends the review with quote, "If FernGully ends in conclusively and also loses its way when it treats Krista and Zak to a loving idle in a rain forest pool. The animated feature offers a variety of satisfactions for most of its brilliant time on the screen," end quote. I also forgot to mention this movie gets compared to Avatar, like the James Cameron Avatar.
Ryley 16:46
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And like what they were saying the in this quote, "it loses way what it treats Krista and Zak to a loving idle." That's my- that's the scene I was talking about. That's the point where you go what's happening? What's going on? When? When are we gonna start saving the rainforest? Like, what?
Kat 17:01
Don't we have a mission?
Ryley 17:03
I don't understand.
Kat 17:04
Aren't we trying not to die Krista? Get your head in the game.
Ryley 17:07
I don't. Yeah, I'm I would started that point. That's where the movie starts losing it.
Kat 17:12
Definitely.
Ryley 17:13
So they do say has a decidedly independent female hero. And that's true, but like, could she have more?
Kat 17:19
She could have more?
Ryley 17:20
She could have more? I don't know. And also, I don't know, maybe I'm being a prude. But like she- more clothes. Maybe? I don't know. I don't know if that's a point or not.
Kat 17:29
She could still be as independent and wear as much clothes as Zak.
Ryley 17:34
And Grandma has like a whole flower gown on.
Kat 17:37
She's got a whole wizard dress on, you know.
Ryley 17:39
Think I'm being prude? I don't know.
Kat 17:41
I don't think you're being prude. I think there's a lot of times, especially in fantasy and sci fi things where female characters get sexualized in some way, even if they are being empowered, like for other skills that they have, they still have to be defaulted to a more scantily clad outfit. And it's not necessarily a bad thing for someone to dress that way. It just seems like a pattern that we see a lot. And I think that's okay. You're not a prude for pointing out that that maybe isn't the coolest thing to do.
Ryley 18:09
Yeah, that's my point.
Kat 18:10
Yeah. So the next one is from Animation for Adults, written by Alleycat Harris in June 2016. Says that although it wasn't widely accepted by critics, the film's concepts were utilized by filmmakers afterwards said most notably, James Cameron's Avatar. Says that the movie is impactful but not without its flaws, And says that the story lags at moments and distracts the audience with bright visuals instead of drama and action. And that's not to say it isn't ever action packed or suspenseful. And says quote, "after watching the film in recent years, I can honestly say that it is very much a scary movie for younger audiences, but that is why I love it so much.," end quote.
Ryley 18:46
well, I remember being a kid I was terrified of this movie, but watching it as an adult, I don't know why I was terrified of this movie. Because Hexxus is definitely a scary villain, probably just those scenes of Hexxus. But like, overall, this movie is not- I just I'm just trying to figure out why I thought this movie was scarier than Secret of NIMH because I've watched Secret of NIMH a ton as a kid, so I don't understand how I only got to watch this once.
Kat 19:09
Yeah, I can't really explain because there are- my nephews now and like other children in my life, the things that they actually get scared by is never the thing you expect them to be scared by. One tiny thing in the background of a movie is scary, but like something that's actually supposed to be scary is not.
Ryley 19:25
When I was a kid, I watched Jurassic Park at three years old and I wasn't scared by any of the dinosaurs but I was fucking terrified of ET and he was supposed to be everyone's friend so explain that.
Kat 19:25
That's the reason I didn't watch ET a lot growing up it's because I was scared of ET.
Ryley 19:31
Yeah.
Kat 19:31
There was like one VHS we had that ET was a trailer. Whenever he was like, "I'll be right here" that would terrify me as a kid. I don't know why.
Ryley 19:49
Oh I love that.
Kat 19:51
His weird little finger I think scared me.
Ryley 19:53
Yeah.
Kat 19:53
I'll be right here.
Ryley 19:56
I just love your ET impression. That is
Kat 19:57
Thank you.
Ryley 19:58
I think that's a highlight.
Kat 20:00
Thank you.
Ryley 20:01
Oh, it's fantastic.
Kat 20:02
But anyway, back to this review says that the movie has a unique art style and it has impressive computer animation for the early 90s and even for today. And says the music is a tricky aspect of the film, like some songs in their opinion are gorgeous and moving and then others seem pointless with the exception of toxic love, which is not at all necessary, but catchy and diabolical.
Ryley 20:24
That's the point.
Kat 20:25
Mentions that the original version of toxic love was originally R rated and included an explicit sexual language.
Ryley 20:32
Why?
Kat 20:33
I don't know who this movie was originally for, or this song, but I know Elton John helped with the music for this movie.
Ryley 20:39
That's odd because he's done a lot of
Kat 20:42
Yeah, like Lion King.
Ryley 20:43
Yeah, Lion King. He did Eldorado that's a great
Kat 20:46
Yeah.
Ryley 20:47
That's a kid's movie. So I don't understand.
Kat 20:49
Maybe toxic love was not originally supposed to be for this movie
Ryley 20:52
Yeah. Maybe he's all like no, no, no,no.
Kat 20:54
We're gonna change some things. But like, apparently it was very explicit sexual language in the song. But they the writer of this was not comfortable saying exactly what that explicit language was. And said that they loved the characters as a kid, but now as an adult can see why critics gave specifically the characters a negative review. Says that Krista, while she's energetic and fun, is not interesting as a protagonist. Says that she's not annoying, but she doesn't do anything interesting until the closing of the third act.
Ryley 21:21
Yeah.
Kat 21:22
So she's not a very compelling protagonist.
Ryley 21:24
That makes sense.
Kat 21:25
Says that Chris's best attributes are her courage and her independence and she still kind of manages to keep our attention. Hexxus is the best character and is disturbing and entertaining, and is the perfect embodiment of destruction and perversion.
Ryley 21:38
Yeah, I totally agree with that.
Kat 21:39
Ends interview with quote, "although it was nowhere near as memorable as the brave little toaster or Beauty and the Beast, FernGully brings back so many nostalgic memories for me. It is a bit of a guilty pleasure cartoon, but I do not mind. Sometimes we simply need to wander through the forest and take a break from the world," end quote.
Ryley 21:55
I mean, that's nice. And like this movie is very visually beautiful. I will agree with that. But I don't know as a movie.
Kat 22:02
I think if you watched it more as a kid.
Ryley 22:04
yeah.
Kat 22:04
but I get why you wouldn't think to just put this movie on.
Ryley 22:08
This movie isn't unwatchable, I watched all of it. It was fine. But it just it's not something I'm going to return back to anytime soon. If at all, could you scroll back up?
Kat 22:17
Was it the computer animation part?
Ryley 22:22
Yes, it was actually because like, I guess I could see it with Batty and how he was flapping his wings. I could tell that was computer animation. I couldn't really tell what else was because like it was all decent animation.
Kat 22:30
A flock of birds they did it for or something like it's just things that would would have taken a lot longer if they did it traditionally, like. You know a little bit more about the animation process than I do. I wouldn't know where to recognize what's computer and what's traditional.
Ryley 22:45
I'm trying I'm just trying to think because like I can see like how a few things were. And it's in that era where they were first starting to use computers and animation. And it is very obvious in a lot of movies. I'm trying to think of one but shoot I can't think of any but like
Kat 23:00
Terminator.
Ryley 23:01
The Terminator.
Kat 23:02
Terminator two. Sorry.
Ryley 23:03
Yeah. It's in that. Oh, god. Yeah. It's in that era of like, first using it. It is just so distracting. It is just
Kat 23:13
Yeah.
Ryley 23:13
absolutely just eye sore in any movie it's used in. It's not really in this movie. There are times where I caught it. But worst thing the world? No. But it is one of those things where it catches you and it's like, oh, I noticed that. I wish that you didn't do that.
Kat 23:27
Yeah.
Ryley 23:28
It was new when they were using it. And it was good enough for the time.
Kat 23:31
Yes.
Ryley 23:32
That's what I just wanted to say. Because like, I am always interested in the animation process and what they use.
Kat 23:37
Do you agree with how they explained how they feel about Krista's character now?
Ryley 23:42
Oh, yeah, absolutely. i Yeah, she doesn't have a lot going on. She wants to save her home. And she she is independent and she is brave, good for her. But there's not much else going on.
Kat 23:52
Kind of like what with what I was saying with your issues with like her wearing a swimsuit. There was an attempt to make her like this cool, like female character, but there wasn't as much of an attempt to make her a person.
Ryley 24:05
Personality. Yeah, that's the whole probably why I brought that up too, because like she's kind of ditzy, I would say.
Kat 24:10
Yeah, it's a very shallow characterization.
Ryley 24:12
She's very shallow, not ditzy, but shallow. Because like she just kind of has like, I don't know, just she's naive, which I get because like, she's a fairy in the woods. She only knows what she knows. But like super naive, where it's like a huge flaw.
Kat 24:26
Is she supposed to be like the equivalent of 16 too, like?
Ryley 24:29
That's, yeah, that's the whole- we really don't know anything about this character.
Kat 24:33
Yeah. The next review I have is from David Cornelius from the website DVD talk from October of 2005. Cornelius said when he originally watched this movie that he wanted to walk out of the theater when the fairies started jamming out. He hoped Upon rewatching this film 14 years later that his hatred of it was like exaggerated. Maybe I was just being dramatic back then maybe it's not as bad as I remember. But he watched it with his daughter and his daughter mostly was bored throughout the whole thing. And saysthat the movie is really lovely for really brief moments but generally it's cloying and preachy. And says that quote, "a self important environmental message piece that only sting could love." end quote. Says, that it's heavy handed and has no subtlety in this film couldn't rein Robin Williams and like Aladdin could Yeah was upset at the potential that this movie had and said that the backgrounds were lush and lovely, but the character animation was weak and less impressive and the message is good with the filmmakers should have scaled back a little bit and they wasted the fairies as defenders of nature idea. I agree, I think is a really cool concept. Fairies as main characters is something I love, and I feel like this movie wasted the use of just having fairies.
Ryley 25:40
That's so true because they don't really do much until the like loo last five minutes of the movie. That's it. They could be just people, there's nothing.
Kat 25:49
Exactly. Ends this review with quote, "ultimately, FernGully is a film that will only impress very young viewers. Those old enough to appreciate the morals of the story are not likely to enjoy the cloying situations and mediocre presentation. It is second-rate, uninspiring, and quite forgettable." end quote.
Ryley 26:07
He's not wrong. Going back to the thing where he says like it's preachy. The only thing this movie really had was their message about deforestation and environmental issues. Let's say that wasn't what the farthest movie was, what the fuck is going on?
Kat 26:21
What moral does it have outside of that?
Ryley 26:24
What goals are they like that that's the whole thing. It's just like, that's really their bit. And that's it. And the rest of the movie. They're just kind of running around.
Kat 26:32
Yeah.
Ryley 26:32
Not saying it's preachy, but is like the only that's the only thing they have to latch on to this movie.
Kat 26:38
In terms of messaging, Secret of NIMH, I think what that movie did right was not including humans as any way other than a background outside force. Yes, this movie has humans as an outside force, but it feels like they're a little too included in the story to where it in my opinion, I feel like it undercuts the message a little bit.
Ryley 26:57
Yeah, I get that.
Kat 26:58
Every theme, we've managed to be able to compare the two movies.
Ryley 27:01
I know well, I think that's just the thing with movies. I mean, maybe one we will just get wildly different movies where we can't.
Kat 27:08
We did like fucking vice and Bernie and we're able to like, make comparisons between the two of them
Ryley 27:13
We did that's true. I don't know maybe just like inherently all movies are in some shape or form, you're able to just like compare something about them.
Kat 27:21
Yeah. That's the question I was thinking of. What would the moral of this movie be outside of save the planet?
Ryley 27:28
What do they have to rely on? Besides the environmental stuff? Yikes. I don't know.
Kat 27:33
Transparent love story?
Ryley 27:35
Very transparent. Also, is she cheating on Pip? Are they a thing?
Kat 27:38
Yeah. What are you doing to Christian Slater?
Ryley 27:40
Why are you doing to him? Well, okay, so Secret of NIMH had a thing where like, about bravery, courageousness, so you could compare that but I don't really know.
Kat 27:49
The shallow characterization of Krista versus like Miss
Ryley 27:53
Brisby. She did for her family. She had a strong
Kat 27:57
Internal motivation like
Ryley 27:59
Yeah, exactly. Like we know what she wants. That's it.
Kat 28:01
Krista is supposed to be helping her entire community and she gets distracted by the external things.
Ryley 28:09
Well, half of the movie she doesn't even know there's something wrong with the rainforest. She saw some things where like oh, there's a monster.
Kat 28:15
She gets lied to by a white man.
Ryley 28:17
Yes, that's the whole things. So half the movie she really she doesn't even know there's really a huge issue going on like a devastating issue going on. She she's walking she's just going through the forest with a boy. So I think that's kind of lost in the movie as well. Like what was the character really motivated, motivated through half of the movie?
Kat 28:35
I guess the best way to put it is like a doesn't seem earned.
Ryley 28:38
Yeah.
Kat 28:39
Like none of it as a viewer getting to the end doesn't feel like we earned any of the conclusion the characters didn't earn any of it.
Ryley 28:45
The villain was there for five minutes.
Kat 28:47
I agree a lot with what this reviewer saying that this movie really did have a lot of potential and had so many
Ryley 28:52
It did.
Kat 28:52
cool things going for it fucking Robin Williams and Tim Curry in this movie together and you fumbled it.
Ryley 28:58
Yeah.
Kat 28:59
But anyway, do you have anything else to say before we move on?
Ryley 29:02
No, we can move on.
Kat 29:03
Okay, so moving on to the audience reviews we'll start out with a 10 out of 10. This is a review from IMDb from 2021 and is titled "beautiful, before its time." "I've just rented this to show my husband and little boy. I loved it so much as a child due to the gorgeous rainforest animation and I remember Hexxus being a scary and brilliant villain. I realize now, on watching as an adult, that this was way before its time and the message is perfect for today's society and awareness of climate issues, deforestation, conservation and other environmental problems that are now more in the spotlight. The story is fabulous, animation stunning (it's of its time) and the message is brilliant. Robin Williams and Tim Curry are their usual exceptional selves too. It's 2021. Watch it now." Yes, there's more awareness for climate change but I don't think-
Ryley 29:53
That's because it's almost it's-
Kat 29:55
The planets dying that's why.
Ryley 29:57
Yeah, it's it's it's being brought up more because It's visible now. It's effect- It's- We're almost up.
Kat 30:03
We're losing the excuses,
Ryley 30:05
Times up.
Kat 30:07
There's still a chance, but like it's it's press. It's a pressing matter.
Ryley 30:10
It's a very pressing matter.
Kat 30:12
But we'll move on to the first negative review, two and a half star review from 2016, from letterboxd. And it says, "Can we talk about how unnecessarily sexually charged Tim Curry's performance in this film was." It was like a step away from Dr. Frankfurter.
Ryley 30:24
Yes. Okay, that's what I was like. That's the imagery that I was getting. Why would they get a bad review? And that's the comment they make because that's probably the best thing in that film.
Kat 30:34
I feel like they maybe they enjoyed that and nothing else.
Ryley 30:37
Yeah, the rest is shit.
Kat 30:40
Yes, but we'll move on to the next one, which is from 2021 is a two and a half star review from letterboxd. And says, "vibrantly colorful but didactic and crass as only early 90s Non-Disney animated musicals can be watching this ecological fantasy fable of my childhood as an adult can only be described as 76 minutes of styrofoam loudly rubbing against cardboard. Also, why is Tim Curry's hexus the horniest sounding character to ever feature in a family film? Oh right, because it's Tim Curry. Color my childhood retro actively ruined."
Ryley 31:12
I love that.
Kat 31:12
The Styrofoam loudly rubbing against cardboard that is a horrid sound.
Ryley 31:16
Yeah.
Kat 31:17
Man, they really hated this thing.
Ryley 31:19
Yeah, good lord. I love everyone who's writing review is coming back to watch it. I love this. Like, this is very interesting to me that we're all coming back to watch this one way because it's no one's favorite movie ever.
Kat 31:32
No.
Ryley 31:32
No one's going this is my favorite movie of all time. I mean re-watch it every year or what
EASY BAKE TAKES 31:36
No.
Ryley 31:37
People are coming back.
Kat 31:38
Oh, this is what did it. Okay, so the next the next review is a three out of 10 from IMDb from 2010 that is titled "Don't worry, kids! Magical fairies will save us!" "The eco-friendly animated feature is a children's environmental fantasy about a tropical paradise protected by guardian fairies, one of whom (a cute Tinkerbell lookalike) develops a crush on the first human she's ever sees, after helping amend his ignorant woodcutting ways. Of course, she first shrink him down to fairy size, in much of the same way that the script likewise reduces its message to a basic cartoon conflict between good and evil with plenty of post George Lucas mysticism. Some of the animation is fine, if only the film paused show it off; the pace is set to match a TV ruined attention span which at least has one advantage: none of the songs is more than 40 seconds long. Parents may feel obligated to drag their kids to see it. But don't be fooled. FernGully cheats on its ecology lesson by suggesting that the rain forest has magical powers of restoration which it certainly doesn't. And if we teach our kids to start relying on fairies to save the Earth, we're all in big trouble. The best voices are provided by toxic sludge monster Tim Curry and dingbat Robin Williams."
Ryley 32:48
This review is annoying cuz it takes it literally the fairies is the kid aspect of the movie. It's not supposed to be taken literally. The point the message is every living thing has the power to restore to nurture to like grow.
Kat 33:04
We all play a part.
Ryley 33:05
Exactly. I don't like when people take the kid aspect of the movie go Are we really teach your kids this? No, they're gonna grow up.
Kat 33:14
Yeah.
Ryley 33:15
And know that this isn't real. Like kids are smarter than what you think they don't actually think fairies live in the rain forest. Well, some might.
Kat 33:22
Like they're allowed to, they're little kids, they're gonna grow up and unlearn these things
Ryley 33:25
That's the thing.
Kat 33:26
You reviewer, unlearned things like that.
Ryley 33:28
Yeah, but they're gonna take away that I can I can, as a person, help.
Kat 33:33
We are entering into this movie through Zak. And seeing that as humans, we can change the ways of the other humans around us and do something to help rather than harm. And I'm not giving this movie any credit for that.
Ryley 33:47
No.
Kat 33:47
But I will say maybe that is the other message. Like you can go against what you've been taught and learned and make a change for the better instead of continuing to harm.
Ryley 33:55
Exactly.
Kat 33:56
But I'm not saying that that movie meant to do that.
Ryley 33:58
No. And the- I forgot to mention this earlier, but the ending of the movie is that it takes both those like two dudes are running the machine goes, Listen, guys, things gotta change. Yes, because that's how every rainforest has been saved around the world by just one 16 year old going, we need to stop cutting down trees, and everyone go yes, yes. I understand. No, that's not how it works.
Kat 34:20
What you and your two friends working in a lumber company saying we're going to cut down less trees, let's quit our jobs like they aren't going to just replace us with somebody else.
Ryley 34:27
First off, they're not one of 1000s of people out there cutting down rainforests. Also, they're part of a company from a CEO who's making millions off of the land development of whatever.
Kat 34:37
Who's not going to listen to them.
Ryley 34:38
Yeah, that's the thing. These aren't douchebags just coming out here to tear down trees by themselves.
Kat 34:43
Yeah, who just thought it'd be fun?
Ryley 34:45
Yeah, they're not. That's not how it works.
Kat 34:47
They don't own the lumber company.
Ryley 34:49
No.
Kat 34:50
But this movie did not have the time to get into the whole capitalism aspect of it.
Ryley 34:55
Yes. And it is a children's movie, so I understand why they did it, but I audibly laughed one that was like the last exchange of going things need to change and like,
EASY BAKE TAKES 35:04
Yeah.
Ryley 35:06
That was the little point I wanted to make. Because I just remembered it.
Kat 35:09
It's just a metaphor, dog like
Ryley 35:11
It's just a metaphor.
Kat 35:12
I do like this last sentence toxic sludge monster, Tim Curry and dingbat, Robin Williams.
Ryley 35:17
Okay, those are great way to describe this two characters that's what they are.
Kat 35:21
But anyway, we'll move on to the next review, which is a two and a half star review from February of 2022, from letterboxd. And says, "this one had me thinking that that was a rip off of Robin Williams Genie only to find out it was literally Robin Williams role directly before Genie, the prequel to Genie if you will. Anyways, this film is a perfect example of Tim Curry paradox, in which he simultaneously makes the movie better and worse. Worse, because you spend every second he isn't on screen wishing he would just come back. Like at least if a movie is solidly mediocre, I can get comfortable with that. But how am I supposed to go on after watching toxic love? I should have just stuck to the YouTube clip didn't need to see it in context at all."
Ryley 36:00
Fair. I agree wholeheartedly. Yes, yes. Yes.
Kat 36:05
The Tim Curry paradox part like yes,
Ryley 36:07
Yeah.
Kat 36:07
100%.
Ryley 36:08
I didn't know where they were going with that. But I was like, that is exactly yes. I understand it now.
Kat 36:13
He blesses you with every scene he's in.
Ryley 36:15
Yep, he does.
Kat 36:16
This one's long. So this is from September of 2008 on IMDb one out of 10 and is titled "utterly confused." "I recently watched FernGully for the first time as an assignment for an AP environmental science class. Even though I was a child of the 90s I never saw FernGully and so look at the movie without the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. First off, I can forgive a movie for being made when it was but this is definitely not a timeless piece and should probably still be lost in the 90s with Pound Puppies. What I don't understand is how I'm supposed to look at this on a serious level. Zak learns that he shouldn't cut down the rainforests because there are fairies around and trees can feel pain. The movie does not go into any detail about the plight of the nonfictional animals and doesn't even amp up the pathos with those huge-eyed creatures that were dancing in the one scene because they are never seen again. In fact, the forest was portrayed as a terrifying place with creatures that would quickly devour a person if they were small enough. I guess it's supposed to be saying that the inhabitants of the forest will be harmed if their home is destroyed, but just the fact that fairies aren't even real kind of makes the story lose any power it had. Also what exactly is the pollution goo supposed to be? I understand that he's some evil demon thing that feeds on pollutants and wants to destroy the forest, but I don't get how it can be looked at metaphorically if the pollution is in control of continually itself, as it is during parts of the movie. Finally, if I had seen this movie as a young child, I probably would have had nightmares for weeks. Between hexes becoming a horrible skeleton poop monster and the comic relief Batty having terrifying bloodshot eyes and a raging case of rabies, this movie rivals Snow White for the scariest children's movie ever."
Ryley 37:47
I get why Snow White is scary. There's there's some scary parts of Snow WhiteI think the reasons why they're saying it's scary. It's just because I think they're just being snarky, except for the Hexxus part.
Kat 37:57
Skeleton poop monster.
Ryley 37:59
Yes. They're being snarky. Okay, they made a good point about like, Hey, we should keep out the rainforest because fairies live there. And trees feel pain and not like actual reasons because like, hey, there's animals that live there. There's
Kat 38:11
And sustain the ecosystem.
Ryley 38:14
Exactly. It's very important to the world that these rainforests stay where they are. And the animals that live in it are very important, the plants that live in there. I can see why the movie doesn't really portray that very well. It just
Kat 38:26
Yeah.
Ryley 38:26
Hey, fairies live there. And trees feel pain? It's yeah, okay, I get that.
Kat 38:31
It's a little too metaphorical in what it's trying to say.
Ryley 38:34
Yeah. So what the person was saying before about the fairy stuff, I don't know if that was their point or not, but like this person, put it in context that I understand
Kat 38:43
That other person were kind of coming at the same point, but I don't think they fully understood why it was an issue. So it came off more as like kids think that fairies are going to save the world.
Ryley 38:53
Yeah.
Kat 38:54
That's what the difference between this and secrets of NIMH secrets are no one was really rooted in like reality, even though it had magical elements to it.
Ryley 39:01
It's a warning. It's a because like, what if?
Kat 39:04
You're, you're harming something and changing the way that they have to go about existence.
Ryley 39:08
You're harming a living thing and I think that should be taken and consider it. You should think about that.
Kat 39:14
Yeah, think before you animal test.
Ryley 39:20
That should be the title of this. Think before you animal test.
Kat 39:25
Okay, we'll move on to the next one. This next one is a two star review from 2019 on letterboxd. That says, "look, it's pretty boring and kind of confusing, but toxic love is one of the greatest musical compositions of the 1990s and it's gospel must be spread."
Ryley 39:38
True. I'm just now realizing what I missed out on that songs.
Kat 39:42
Next one is a three star as from June 2022. And says, "the himbo to environmental activist pipeline. Great visual atmosphere that reminded me of early Disney, and the interconnectedness of nature felt very present throughout. This was a perfect choice for a rainy day." I guess that wasn't really negative.
Ryley 39:58
No it really wasn't.
Kat 39:59
Himbo to environmental activist pipeline thing is funny though.
Ryley 40:02
That is that's very good. I like that a lot.
Kat 40:04
You mean if I care about the environment, I'll get to hit it?
Ryley 40:06
Kinda what this movie was saying honestly. There's a message.
Kat 40:10
Okay, this next one's from August of 1999 and is a two out of 10 from IMDb that is titled "A terrifying movie not fit for anyone under 12."
Ryley 40:19
Oh, no.
Kat 40:21
"I first saw this movie when I was the age it was meant for and it scared the crap out of me. Recently, I watched it again with a friend and even after watching horror flicks like the Thing, The Exorcist and a bunch of other scary movies, this kid's animation still scared me a whole heck of a lot. Do not let your kids see this movie until they're at least 12. Unless you you like your tots having nightmares."
Ryley 40:43
Really? You watch the thing and this scares you more than thing? environmental anxiety. Sure. Yeah, that's pretty scary. But other than that, maybe you can show this to an eight year old they'll be fine.
Kat 40:54
Show a fifth grader this maybe I feel like a fifth grader could handle it.
Ryley 40:56
Yeah.
Kat 40:57
like a nine or 10 year old. But yeah, this person just sounds like a weenie.
Ryley 41:00
That's what that's what I was. Yeah.
Kat 41:02
But anyway, we'll move on to the next one. This one is a start a half from 2015 on letterboxd. And it says, "when I was in grade seven, the girl I had a crush on said FernGully was her favorite film. At that time. I told her I also liked the movie, though I actually hadn't seen it."
Ryley 41:19
I love that. I love it.
Kat 41:20
It's the most seventh grader thing to do.
Ryley 41:22
That is.
Kat 41:22
I think this is the last negative one.
Ryley 41:24
Okay.
Kat 41:24
So this is from May of 2005 on IMDb is a four out of 10 and is titled "innocent nonsense?". "I suppose one could look at FernGully as innocent guff," Guff, what is guff?
Ryley 41:37
Did they try to say what's the word?
Kat 41:40
Trivial, worthless or insolent talk or ideas. Okay, so it is a word.
Ryley 41:45
Okay.
Kat 41:46
"innocent guff for young viewers, except for a more adolescent sequence where in Zack and Krista get wet to get there. But looking at this,"
Ryley 41:54
Why did they say it like that?
Kat 41:55
I don't know. "But looking at this," 1999- "1992 flick from the perspective of 2005 It seems more like eco propaganda for children. We learned that technology except for cassette players which are fun leads to death and destruction the spirits of wise people are recycled into the living trees feel pain when cut research on animals is conducted by wanton brutes and logging companies are on the side of evil. These days you can pay big money and be taught all these things at a university. I guess I wasn't too surprised when I read that this movie was released on Earth worship day" they call it Earth worship day it was just released on Earth Day, "(nature good humans bad.) Robin Williams is funny as Batty the bat, better than the same routine on fast forward, which he did for the genie in Aladdin (also 1992.)"
Ryley 42:41
Look, dude, just, just say you're a climate denier. That's okay. Climate change.
Kat 42:44
It's such like an aggressive stance on this movie to be like, propaganda
Ryley 42:49
Eco propaganda. Who- who uses the word eco propaganda besides someone who has money and gas and oil?
Kat 42:56
This person sounds like they're standing in a park emptying cans of hairspray just into the wind. Just because.
Ryley 43:02
Just to own the libs, you know,
Kat 43:04
Fuck the ozone layer.
Ryley 43:06
Don't you live here. A cop has to go, Sir, you're- This public property you can't be doing that.
Kat 43:12
Let's move on to a review from July of 2022 is from Letterboxd. And says, "Krista Pip and Hexxus shaped me as the bisexual I am today." Batty- "Batty is my ideal personality. This movie made me and is obviously in my top 10 all time favorites."
Ryley 43:29
Oh, that's funny. I can imagine the type of person this is in a good way. Not in a bad way. But I get it. I get that.
Kat 43:36
Yeah. So the last review I have is a five-star review from June of 2022. And it is from Letterboxd and says, "one of my earliest memories is of wanting Zak and Pips to kiss. Batty describing humans as the things that 'walk around going Hi, Helen!' is peak comedy. And yes, obviously Tim Curry as the small cuffing embodiment of pollution is hot but we get Christian Slater as a loincloth clad fairy. The 90s truly were the golden age of animation." This is our third 90s animated movie in a row. So.
Ryley 44:06
Yeah, exactly.
Kat 44:07
Because I watched this movie a lot. And the people that seem to like it are definitely people who seem like they watched it a lot growing up. I think the reasons that they like it seem to be Hexxus and Batty mostly.
Ryley 44:18
Yeah.
Kat 44:18
Personally, those are the only parts I really like. But anything else about it other than the animation being really pretty. I don't think it's a good movie.
Ryley 44:28
No, I totally agree. It's a weak movie.
Kat 44:33
What would you give this out of 10?
Ryley 44:34
Four out of ten.
Kat 44:35
Four. Okay, I think I'll say about the same. It gets two points for Robin Williams and Tim Curry. One point for music and one point for visuals.
Ryley 44:45
Yeah, that's that's a good way to say it.
Kat 44:47
Okay, I genuinely don't have anything else to say about this movie.
Ryley 44:51
No, I've said everything I want to say too.
Kat 44:54
If you want to reach out to us and give us any feedback, or just give us any movie suggestions or any general gripes, you can DM us on our Instagram at Easy Bake Takes. We also sometimes post clips on our tik tok at Easy Bake Takes. And also thank you so much for listening. This has been Easy Bake Takes. My name is Kat
Ryley 45:12
And I'm Ryley
Kat 45:13
Easy watching out there. Bye
Ryley 45:15
Bye.