Fly Me to the Moon 3D (2007) User Reviews (33)

Nice

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 5/10 · 15 August 2008]

Honestly, I did have a feeling from the trailer that Fly Me to the Moon wasn't going to exactly my style. But I had the opportunity to see it today for free and I just wanted to give it a fair chance, I don't know what's with this year, but it doesn't seem like all the animated films are gold, now we had WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda, that's about it when it comes to the good animated films, but then we had Space Chimps and now Fly Me to the Moon that are just average. See, what bugs me is that this movie is just for kids, I think we should have those kind of films, but this was semi-boring. The humor didn't even seem to exist, also flies are not cute or interesting to watch and just because a film is made for 3-D doesn't make it a great film. I'm not trying to hate on this film because the story is decent, it's just the way it's told that makes it a little dull.

Nat, I.Q., and Scooter are young flies who are just day dreamers, but Nat dreams of going to the moon one of these days. When he talks to his adventurous grandfather, he decides to just go for it. He talks I.Q. and Scoother into it as well, they sneak onto the rocket ship that is taking Americans to the moon for the first time. But with the mothers freaking out at home and Russian flies who can't stand the idea of these American flies getting the credit, it may not be a happy trip home.

Fly Me to the Moon is alright for the kids under 7, that's it. Like I said, I think we should have movies that are aimed for kids only, but this was just dull and didn't interest me. The humor is very tame and the characters aren't the best to relate too. There are a couple of nice things about the movie, like the animation is beautiful and the story is fun. Even though 3-D doesn't make a movie wonderful, it does make it a lot of fun to watch and a lot more interesting to look at. Over all, I'd say to see this as a matinée if you want to see it on the 3-D screen, otherwise, it's a rental, there's nothing special about it, but it's a nice movie.

5/10

"First ever animated movie created for 3D". Seriously? Where?

[soger · 4/10 · 1 December 2008]

It is pretty surreal what these flies can do... eh well... this is a cartoon, so anything can happen in it.

At first I must tell you that I love animated movies. Unfortunately this year's repertoire is very weak. This cartoon is nothing but a list of flaws:

1) I quoted the tag line. It suggests that this movie has great 3D effects. Well, I did not see any, at least not something special I never saw before.

2) The "flies" in this movie look nothing like real flies. At least they could've make them black. But cyan flies, seriously? With giant heads and slim torsos?

3) The story. I guess it was written for 6 year old kids. I could tell it in two sentences it is so over simplified.

4) Excessive patriotism. For example: "They are American files after all!" Oh, give me a break.

It's about FLIES!

[RichardSRussell-1 · 3/10 · 15 August 2008]

1st the good news. The 3-D is spectacularly well done, and they don't go for the gotcha gimmicks. The film is based on the true story of the high point in human history, and even features one of the actual participants in that story: Buzz Aldrin.

And now the meat of the matter: It's about FLIES, for krissakes! Flies with big, googy human eyes, true, but flies nonetheless. Remember when I likened the "Underworld" movies to rats vs. cockroaches? That wasn't intended as praise, and I never dreamed anyone would take it literally. This one's got even less empathy going for it. Baby maggots? Ugh. In one of those odd confluences of Hollywood groupthink, this flik was evidently on the drawing boards at the same time as "Space Chimps", also about critters in space.

Go rent "Apollo 13" and see a 9-rated movie about the REAL space program (RIP).

Ughhh.....

[sanjr1 · 2/10 · 15 August 2008]

"Fly Me To The Moon" has to be the worst animated film I've seen in a LONG TIME. That's saying something since I have taken my son to see every animated release for the last 4 years now. The story is to be generous...trite. The voice acting is atrocious, Too cute sounding. The humor is of the Romper Room variety. The animation is passable for a Nickolodeon type of cartoon but this is being released on the big screen not cable television.

It gets a 2 only because of it's OK 3-D visuals. Some of the scenes had a mildly stimulating image but We've seen much better in the past. I also question the insistence of the filmmakers to have characters fly away from the screen rather than into it in most of the scenes. While that is interesting at first it became tiresome after the 3rd or 4th time. It seemed to smack of indifference to me on the part of the creators.

I will say this though, It had a pretty cool soundtrack. And for the record my son wasn't too crazy about it either. Bad movie.

Fly Me Anywhere But Not to "Fly Me To The Moon"

[breklor · 2/10 · 16 August 2008]

Okay, so, someone, somewhere, a few years ago, thought it would be a good idea to make a 3D IMAX movie about some flies stowing away aboard the Apollo 11 and going to the moon. So they did. Someone, somewhere, was an idiot.

I want to give the artists props for doing their homework on the hardware. As far as I can tell, the rockets and the launch hardware were bang on. The graphics in general were pretty good - the rocket launch gave me chills, like a good rocket launch always does (my Popular Mechanics flying-car gearhead blood still runs strong) and the 3D was pretty effective. The CG wasn't Pixar-quality, but it was generally good. The flies were kinda mediocre anthropomorphics, with some half-assed late-60s characters thrown in for colour (hippie flies, African-American flies with giant afros and black shades, etc.) and the maggots looked more like grubs with human baby heads (although they made suitably gross squelching noises).

The scriptwriters certainly did not do their homework, relying on offensive and outdated clichés (60s gender politics including mostly-useless female characters, racial stereotypes, evil Russians, a fat fly who only wants to eat, grade-two level gross-out humour). In a movie aimed for IMAX, they blew a wonderful opportunity to sneak in some educational content about physics and space travel - they didn't get their physics right (zero-g in the Lunar Module during landing burn? PLEASE.) They couldn't even be bothered to read the original radio transcripts between Houston and the astronauts, all of which is in the public domain; instead they wrote their own dialogue, which sounds like crap.

But we liked the maggots.

So they get a point and a half for rockets and maggots. Uh, yay. 1.5/5.

Lazy writing; Tsk Tsk

[vinov1260 · 2/10 · 8 September 2008]

While the 3-D animation (the highlight of the show) did it's job well, most other elements fell flat. It was as though the filmmakers thought "well, it's gonna be 3-D so we don't have to work that hard on the plot or character development." And the fact that it's a children's movie is absolutely no excuse. The public is drawn to three dimensional characters (Shrek, Nemo's Dad) just as much as they are drawn to three dimensional graphics. The only dimension any of the main characters showed was two dimensional Scooter who twists the plot from time to time with his compulsion to eat everything in sight.

And the absolute kicker? Buzz Aldrin's appearance at the very end (after watching a very robotic cartoon version of the same historical figure for an hour and half) comes on the screen and ruins everyone's good time by calling the film's main characters "contaminants" and announcing that the situation put forth on screen was actually an impossibility.

???!!!??? Did you just wanna tell the kids the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus don't exist while you're at it?

Cold War propaganda is back, Alive & Kicking!

[lefterislalos · 1/10 · 15 November 2008]

Today, I visited an Athenean Cinema with my two kids (6 & 8 years old), payed 3 x 12 euros (about 45 US $ total) not to mention gas, popcorn & soda, was asked to return my 3d special glasses after leaving the theater and was "forced" to watch what could have been a great 3d movie masterpiece but only proved to be a sick "cold war like" propaganda movie, like none I have seen during the last 20 years... AND THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A MOVIE FOR CHILDREN... IN HEAVEN'S NAME!

PS 1: The average working Greek makes no more than 850 Euros a month (approxiamtely 1050 US $)

PS 2 My kids liked it... but then again they are no more than babies >in Greek: mora, morons > like the one who wrote the script & the others who made this "3d disgrace" happen.

PS 3 3D animation is fantastic but who gives a ....!

It is cute...but!

[wonkakid91 · 3/10 · 8 August 2008]

When I saw this trailer on TV I was surprised. In May of 2008 I was at Six Flags in New Jersey and this was showing at a 4-D attraction (you know, the attraction that the seats move). I take it that the version I saw was a shortened version (15 min.) and also re-created to add the motion effects. It was a cute movie... but that was it. It was educational and told about the first mission but the ending of a CGI spacewalk seemed a bit...well...trite. I was not a big fan of the movie but i would recommend this movie for any parent wanting to inform their children in a fun way about the first moonwalk. I will say, the character actors were well selected and the characters themselves were cute. So all-in-all, I would say, if you want to bring the younger kids... go for it. But if you are wanting to take your older kids, take them to another movie... they will thank you.

It is not that bad!

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 8 February 2009]

Of course there are flaws with it, but it is not as bad as people say it is, but it could have been much better. It is dull in comparison to works by Pixar and Dreamworks, but I did actually enjoy it. There are better animated films out there, namely Beauty and the Beast but there have been a lot worse animated films as well, like the sequel to the Secret of Nimh. The script has its ups and downs, but I did actually laugh at a bit of the humour that was attempted. I do agree though that the female flies fainting act was overdone quite badly. The animation, in its 2D and 3D form is actually nicely done, in fact a vast majority of it was amazing. The main flaw with the film is the story. A bit slow and predictable, but the voice talents did well to redeem themselves in the slower bits. Another problem was the ending, Buzz Aldrin telling us that this wasn't a true story was unnecessary, we know that already. About the pace, although the film is relatively short, it just feels longer. But believe me, there has been a lot worse 3D films like Spy Kids 3, (with little sense of wonder, predictable story lines and an embarrassing cameo from Sylvester Stallone) The voice talents were very good. Christopher Lloyd made a good effort with Grandpa, and the three child flies were well done. Nicollette Sheridan also did well as his love interest, Nadia. Tim Curry, Russian accent and all, a little reminiscent of Von Talon in Valiant, also does well, despite his character being in the film for about 10 minutes, and his questionably meagre material. Most impressed me most was the soundtrack, with "Fly me To The Moon" and Strauss's Blue Danube waltz, which is one of my favourite pieces of classical music. All in all, a good film, that suffered because of the story, but I will say it was very dull at times. Whether you want to watch it is up to you. 7/10. Bethany Cox

A timid excuse to watch all the glitter fly around on screen.

[Otoboke · 29 October 2008]

The 3D animated film is certainly not a new idea, and while the extent of applying real 3D through the use of glasses dates back to before Toy Story graced our screens, the technology has been somewhat underused. This is no coincidence however, as most will agree that with 3D glasses, along comes gimmick at the expense of story or narration. Fly me to the Moon certainly doesn't do much to shun away such allegations, as the experience is essentially a lame excuse to try out some really nice looking 3D effects and animation, but it is this impressive aesthetic that gives the film life that it would never have had before. Through this extra dimension the movie achieves a sense of compulsion with the viewer, engaging on a level only touched on by the greatest of cinematographers; Fly me to the Moon certainly feels like a trip into outer space, and on this basis alone should you decide whether or not to give this one a try.

Outside of the obvious sensory appeals of the film, the remainder of the much more standard and straight forward elements of film-making are dull and uninteresting in comparison. The story, which follows a trio of youngster fleas as they go on a brave adventure into space through means of hitchhiking in astronauts helmets, has its wonderful moments which will be sure to resonate with anyone interested in space travel. Although once again, without the punctuation of the wonderfully animated environments and smooth, crisp character designs, such moments would probably be fruitless; a little like watching a grainy, black and white version of 2001 with the sound switched off on the ten inch display. Nevertheless, the characters, although extremely standard fare for children's movies, provide adequate motive for the film to move forward and keep exploring all the images of space that lie ahead. The adventure is nonsensical, overly contrived and more than predictable, but for children at least, it will provide some entertainment. For the adults, it's all really just a timid excuse to watch all the glitter fly around on screen.

Where the film begins to lag behind however lies in the tacked on subplot involving some seedy Russian antagonists out to blow the moon-mission out of sheer jealousy. Although the depictions of Russia at the time is a little distasteful, lacking the needed comical edge to win over the audience in regards to their obviously caricature nature, this isn't the major flaw inherent to the development. Instead rather it is simply that it lacks any real coherency and fails to establish any sense of relevant link to the much more engaging main plot. Plus, taking place largely inside the brown hues of wherever these fleas live, and lacking any real amusing characters outside of ex-adventurer Grandpa, the segments which are spliced in between all the adventure and action feel perfunctory for the sake of maintaining standard structure expected of the genre and all the more uninteresting as a result.

In the end, whether or not you will enjoy Fly Me to the Moon depends on two factors: what age you are and what your disposition is in regards to 3D movies. While it would help to be under your teens and be fond of the three-dimensional gimmick, there are nevertheless other areas in which the movie can please. The main focus being that of space exploration and living out your dreams at the cost of risking your normal, everyday life is always playing out in the subtext of the film, but its presence is palpable enough to warrant engagement with all that is going on behind the fancy effects. Sure enough with such films as Space Chimps and big-shot WALL-E not long behind cinema goer's minds, it would be hard to justify another trip into space without having some serious backing from other elements within the film. In this respect, Fly Me to the Moon too often fails. With an overly formulaic script, flat character development and some spotty plotting, the feature does little to convince you that it is anything but a treat for the eyes. So unless you really enjoy your animated-children's-3D-space movies, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but there is still fun to be had here for those who are.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

UGH. I don't think this one can be "spoiled"...

[XuXu_74 · 1/10 · 6 July 2009]

I, also having endured hundreds of children's movies in the past, consider this to be one of the worst I have ever seen.

1) I resent in this day and age having to explain to my children that Russia is not "the bad guys". Also, that mocking Russian names like "Poopchev" is inappropriate.

2) The grandfather fly's birthday party scene contained a quasi-sexist joke in which he implied that males drink beer and women talk on the phone. Two other flies also needlessly use the word "crap" twice.

3) The whole movie largely smacks of 1950's stereotypes and propaganda that I thought we, as a nation, were proud to have risen above.

In all it's just crude, badly animated, even more badly written and not worth wasting the time to view.

The future of family films?

[hebko · 8/10 · 18 June 2007]

I saw this 3-D cgi IMAX film last weekend. It is not the best animated film I've seen lately. The character design wasn't great, the story is too simple and for little kids, the villains are dismissible and the outcome is predictable. It does have some really great looking backgrounds but the animation and the staging is pretty weak. But the effect of 3-D IMAX made the film really fun to watch. Experiencing the original moon landing was exciting again and the theater which was full of kids and adults was totally entranced. I wish they were laughing more or cared more for the characters but it is worth going to an IMAX theater to watch a cgi film that was made for 3-D.

Reverie type of flick

[seasidebuy · 7/10 · 1 June 2016]

No big action scenes, no adult humor that the kids don't understand, this is just a nice calm cartoon that you can watch with your kids before bedtime. It won't rev them up or get them to jump up and down. Thy might even like flys after watching this flick.

Postitives, The color palette of the movie, reminds me of a bygone era. The scenery is pleasant. Music is calm.

Parental guide, The flies use the word Crap a few times and one of the flies refers to the others as idiots.

Plot is slow but it does tell a good story about the space launch that put a man on the moon. It is not a Pixar or Disney high end animated feature that we are so programmed to expect in animation nowadays. It just a slow nicely done movie for young kids...it probably not for you if you are an adult and watching it without kids.

Never, ever, ever, let a 3-year old choose a movie

[tedwilliams · 1/10 · 31 August 2008]

With the MASSIVE advertising this is getting on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. and that ilk, my son was bugging us to see it. Between DVD and the theaters, I've seen pretty much everything by now from the outstanding (Incredibles, Shrek) to the really bad (Wall-E, Brother Bear). But this was easily the worst movie I've ever seen, kids or no kids. It was a "when it this stupid thing going to end?" kind of experience? OK, it's aimed at toddlers (or it better be - it's insulting to the intelligence of anyone over 3), but I've never seen something so predictable, repetitive, and slow-moving. Then once you're finally fed up but relieved that the movie is over, there is this bizarre thing at the end that you think is the setup for a joke, but there isn't one - it's serious, though it's hard to tell what they're trying to accomplish. The 3-D effects... yeah, if you've never seen a Viewmaster they're a big deal, otherwise no (if you look at the screen without glasses, it appears to be the same process). Even my son was bored by the end. Both my wife and I looked at each other and said "wow" at the end. Bad in every respect.

Animated, a cute story of three young flies who wanted to go to the Moon.

[TxMike · 19 December 2008]

This was a DVD from my local public library. I enjoyed it more than I expected to. The animation is just superb, and it has a very well engineered surround-sound track. All in all a very enjoyable short movie.

The story is set in July 1969 when Apollo 11 was to launch and make its historic trip to the Moon. As history witnesses it did and, even though the 3-man crew were on the Moon for less than 3 hours, it opened the way for possible future exploration of worlds beyond the Earth.

The central characters here are all various types of flies. One of them, Grandpa McFly (voiced by the great Christopher Lloyd of BTTF series of movies) told his grandchildren flies his story over and over, how he was on the plane when Amelia Earhart in 1928 flew solo across the Atlantic, and when she fell asleep he saved the day by flying up her nose to make her sneeze and to recover from the dive just in time. That scene is very graphic!

Well, the grandkid flies wanted to do something exciting too, and living in Florida devised a plan to hide out in a worker's lunch pail to gain entrance to the Apollo 11 preparations.

The animation is really very, very good, and it was fun watching these little animated flies, and listen to their dialog. The animation of the spaceship in orbit and on the moon's surface is very nicely done.

SPOILERS: The 3 small flies make it onto Apollo 11 and their fly relatives and friends get to a TV and see them in the background during a broadcast from the space ship. A crisis happens when the Lunar Lander is about to go into Moon orbit when an electrical problem shows its ugly head. The flies find the problem, an unplugged wire, and pool their strength to push the plug in just in time. So, just as Grandpa McFly had saved the historic Earhart flight, these little flies saved the Apollo 11 flight.

Yawn

[elorac · 3/10 · 16 August 2008]

This is not a good movie. Too preachy in parts and the story line was sub par. The 3D was OK, but not superb. I almost fell asleep in this movie.

The story is about 3 young flies that want to have adventure and follow up on it. The characters are lacking, I truly do not care about these characters and feel that there was nothing to keep an adult interested. Pixar this is not.

I would have liked to see more special 3D effects. Also I wold like to see more fly jokes than the mom constantly saying "Lord of the flies" Pretty sexist in showing the women as house wives and fainting.

Fine

[leezuckett · 5/10 · 28 June 2011]

The movie is fine; and fun for kids who are in the bug stage. I never took cartoons at face value even as a kid and I am not seeing my daughter do it either. If the flies not being perfect are what you are worrying about as opposed to the idea that flies talk than this movie is not for you. I have never met a child who could not point out a fly or an ant, or a potato bug, etc...

As to the patriotism - a bit here and there doesn't hurt - we have lost our way a bit and maybe some good patriotism can help us find some pride in the good we have done, either way I doubt this movie will affect anyone all that much. Saying that note that patriotism is not nationalism, though I know the universities tell you that.

Shrek wasn't either.

[mikelbarnett · 1/10 · 3 September 2008]

As long as there's been 3d technology, (1950's I think) there's been animation made for it. I remember specifically, a Donald Duck cartoon with Chip and Dale in it. I don't remember the name at the moment, but the plot was that Donald worked at a circus, was feeding an elephant peanuts and Chip and Dale were stealing the peanuts. This was made to watch in 3d probably 1960's. If you happened to watch Meet the Robinsons in 3d in theaters, they showed this cartoon before the movie and explained the details of it's origin. There are probably somewhere around 100 cartoons made specifically to be viewed through 3d glasses. This claim was a bad move because it's not difficult to prove them wrong. On top of that, this just looks like a bad movie.

first animated flick

[Drewmac09 · 4/10 · 12 August 2008]

Actually, this is a lie, Shrek 3-D was actually the first 3d animated movie. I bought it on DVD about 3 years ago. Didn't Bug's Life also do that? I think it was at Disneyworld in that tree, so I'm saying before they go and use that as there logo. Also, Shrek 3d was a motion simulator at Universal Studios. They should still consider it as a movie, because it appeared in a "theater" and you could buy it for DVD. The movie was cute, at least the little flyes were. I liked IQ. I agree with animaster, they did a god job out of making a movie out of something that is just a out-and-back adventure. I recommend it to families and kids.

garbage

[systemactor · 1/10 · 9 June 2009]

this is what you would get if you allowed a 10 year old (manic American) to write a story of a moon trip. Absolute garbage with no redeeming qualities Maybe it held some fascination in the 3D dept. but as a narrative and entertaining animation it held nothing to make wasting an hour and a half worth while. Save your time and money and watch BOLT instead

Damn. Not enough lines, yet I feel that sums it up... well, I agree with an above review - this is like a cold-war propaganda story. Maybe it would have been more interesting if they had made it about the flies uncovering the hoax of the moon landing, or if the flies had died in the first minute. BTW - why were all the main character flies deformed? - not one had the full compliment of limbs!

Not real

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 8 September 2010]

There are movies that only (or more likely) work when you watch them with children. Or with your inner child being on. This is no Pixar and nowhere near it of course. But it's still a nice little movie, that succeeds in letting us into a world where flies can be heroes. Of course no kid will want their parents to buy them flies after that ... And of course, the flies do not look anything like real flies. There are quite a few animated movies out there, where science was thrown out for fantasy ... same happens here.

The 3-D is decent enough, but it's more the dialogue and the characters that might convince to watch this and like it. On the other hand, I can see that some people will find it "too patriotic". But I do think, that it plays clever on the whole old rivalry, the two (former) most powerful countries had. If you can handle the cynic in you, you will actually enjoy this

If it wasn't for the 3D this wouldn't have been released to theaters

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 24 August 2008]

The movie is about three flies that hitch a ride to the moon with Apollo 11. Its a thirty to forty five minute idea thats stretched to ninety. We get side trips about gramps birthday, Russian flies trying to ruin the mission and one or two other brief asides. Its amusing in fits in starts but it mostly just sort of lays there. Frankly if the film wasn't in 3D I doubt it would have gotten any sort of theatrical release (I had to go into another county on the other side of Long Island to see it). Its not bad but its not much better than okay. On a technical level it does have some really nice 3D effects with a nice sensation of motion as we bob and weave through the grass around the NASA space center.

Outstanding -- best use of 3D to date

[barry-536 · 10/10 · 21 August 2007]

Someone finally got it right in 3D. Going straight to 3D instead of producing a conversion of a 2D film, Ben Stassen and company have created a revolutionary new film that's guaranteed to turn the current lukewarm appreciation of 3D cinema into awestruck wonder. The greatest adventure story of our time (sending a man to the moon) provides a wonderful backdrop to a fairly well written and beautifully executed animation. The characters, scenery and action are excellent. But most memorable will be the total immersion this film provides, as much of the story hovers only inches away. If you're ready to see what modern 3D cinema is destined to become, see Fly Me to the Moon.

A simple feel-good adventure movie that kids will just love to watch

[joebloggscity · 7/10 · 17 November 2008]

A kid's film is a kid's film. Simple as that, and not every single one needs to have the grown-up's interest themes or jokes as in Shrek, or the elaborate musical numbers. Younger kids want a bit of action, humour and fun little characters they can love to watch. Add in a good simple feel good story with some adventure, and that is a great formula for a kid's film; and that is the premise and basis of the animated movie: "Fly me to the Moon".

The film is simply about 3 young friends (who are bees) who decide to hitch a lift with Buzz Aldrin & co to the Moon, back in the 1960s. Their mothers don't know about it, the Soviet Officials (flies again!) don't like it and they themselves are simply wide-eyed about the whole thing. Along the way, there's thrills and fun for young kids. They can relate to the humour and the characters (out to seek adventure and all that).

The added plus is that this is a fully 3D-animated film, and for the first time i've ever seen that the 3D animation effects are astoundingly good and actually work. Having watched Jaws 3D and the like in my youth, I was not expecting much and had to eat my words when viewing this. Watching this in the IMAX, the opening scene with the rocket launch made my eyes almost pop out, it was like as if the rocket was coming off the screen!

I'm surprised and disappointed with much of the negative criticisms in the forum reviews on this movie. I don't practically ever watch kids movies, but got dragged to this by my nephew & niece, and can say that it was worth it. All loved it, as did all the kids in the audience from what I could see. It does as it says on the tin.

Maybe Shrek, Toy Story et al have more going for them in many ways, but as a film in itself "Fly me to the moon" deserves credit for entertainment & enjoyment for young kids in particular who want to see a film they can fully understand and enjoy. One to sit back and enjoy, but most importantly if you can watch this in 3D in the cinema then that's where you'll enjoy it the most.

Voices killed the animated fun

[jmuntmootcourt · 20 July 2011]

The animation in this wasn't too bad, and the story wasn't the most original concept (surprisingly sentient characters, in this case flies, piggybacking on an existing human story or adventure), but still entertaining enough for a kiddie/family cartoon movie.

What made this awful was the voice acting by the kids that voiced the three main characters. All of the others were passable, but dialogue between those three made me feel like I was sitting through a table-reading in a second grade classroom.

I don't know if it was bad coaching or directing, or the kids themselves (who sounded just fine in the live-action features I've seen featuring them). Regardless, this was one prime example of a studio being so obsessed with finding a voice that was even mildly recognizable that they passed on quality.

That awkward line-reading made it almost seem as though they made the rest of the movie and then found kids to read the words that had already been animated, or as if they just plugged in dialogue from a read-through when they auditioned. All entertainment would cease as soon as the main characters started talking, and we just sat and waited impatiently for them to finish awkwardly pushing out their lines.

Ugh. Good job pushing this piece of crap instead of funding 3 or 4 other productions that may have been worth watching.