Don Bluth is responsible for some real gems of traditional animation. 'The Secret of NIMH' is a dark fantasy tale, 'Anastasia' an adventure reminiscent of 90's Disney, 'The Land Before Time' a beloved classic. His lesser known movies have their charm as well: 'Rock-a-Doodle' was endlessly creative and although a bit too much at places, and 'Thumbelina' had some beautiful animation and a heartwarming story.
Not so much 'The Pebble and the Penguin'. It starts promisingly, with a zany and surreal musical number involving musical notation and dancing penguins. But it soon stumbles into a boring mess of dull characters, stupid plot lines, irritating songs and pointless meandering. The backgrounds are nothing amazing, the animation doesn't really stand out and the voice actors, while doing a decent job, get lost in the execution.
The movie has its moments: the whimsical magic of the falling green meteorite exactly at the right time or the storm that washes over the ship bound for a zoo. But it's not enough to carry a film. It is so dreadful that Don Bluth pulled his name from the credits so he wouldn't be associated with this mess.
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