 Doogal
Reviewed by: Shannon Hammell Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
 Primary Audience:
Kids, Family
Genre:
Animation, Comedy, Family, Kids
Length:
1 hr. 25 min.
Year of Release:
2006
USA Release:
February 24, 2006 (wide)
Narrated by Dame Judi Dench, the story takes place in a small community where humans and animals coexist with each other, and everyone is friends with everyone. Doogal (voiced by Daniel Tay) is a candy-addicted dog who merely looks out for himself and his best friend Florence (Kylie Minogue). His latest stunt involves sneaking out of a singing performance and “stopping” a candy clerk on the road (by putting a tack out to flatten the tires of the motorized cart) just to have his fix of jelly beans and lollipops. While the clerk goes for help, he sneaks into the basket of goodies, but accidentally starts the cart up again, and it speeds and crashes into the carousel in the middle of town, releasing three diamonds and an ice demon (who uses a spring to move around) named Zeebad (Jon Stewart). Zeebad is now free from being captive in the town carousel and threatens to take over the world by freezing the sun once he has his hands on the three diamonds that were released. To prove that he means what he says, the carousel freezes shut, locking inside Florence and some other kids. Doogal’s friends, Dylan (Jimmy Fallon), Ermintrude (Whoopi Goldberg), and Brian (William H. Macy), call upon their wizard leader, Zebedee (Ian McKellen), who also uses a spring for mobility. After some taunting, Zeebad leaves the carousel frozen solid, and it is up to Doogal and his friends to find the three diamonds to save the world from being frozen. The journey doesn ’t start out well. Doogal insists on not taking part in setting up camp for the first night away from home and expects someone else to cook dinner. His friends are less than enthused at his arrogance and make him the watchdog for the night. Ermintrude blames Doogal for what had happened. Soon after, Doogal bumps into Zeebad again and is kidnapped. Aiding Zeebad is Sam (Bill Hader), the toy soldier that once stood guard on the carousel. Apparently Sam isn ’t good at being a villain and is tricked by Doogal to feed him caramel candies. Doogal ’s friends drop in to save him, and after learning that their beloved wizard Zebedee may have perished after a fight with the springy ice demon, they continue their journey to find the three diamonds. They encounter setback after setback. Doogal and friends have a habit of finding the diamonds, but end up running into Zeebad who snatches them away. With all three diamonds in tow, Doogal and his friends could only watch in horror as Zeebad attempts to freeze the sun with his newfound powers, keeping poor Florence inside the frozen carousel. The film doesn ’t have any objectionable content except when Dylan goes to repair a boat they were using and says something about “pimping” it (a reference to automobile modifications, such as in the TV show Pimp My Ride). There ’s also a flatulent moose (Kevin Smith) that appears every so often in the film. The movie, like most films geared toward children, teaches a moral—that friendship is what matters most, and teamwork is more important than looking out for one ’s own interests. It teaches kids not to be selfish and to be a team player. I can also see some Christian content in Doogal. Zebedee is presumed dead by his friends, but is partially frozen solid in a crevasse. He later comes out from what was his icy grave to help his town from becoming an icy tundra. In a sense, it is a parallel to Christ dying on the cross for us and resurrecting Himself to save mankind from sin. In dire times of need, Doogal calls upon his friends to not give up and to continue their fight against Zeebad. Doogal ’s love for his friend Florence reciprocates a verse in the Bible: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Doogal is strictly for kids ages 10 and under. Anyone older than 10 will most likely be bored and annoyed with the bad jokes associated with various pop culture references. It has a wonderful story, but the film makers should never have remade the 1970 movie version. The jokes were bad, the dialogue was bad, and the premise itself is incredibly predictable. In fact, Doogal is another one of the three or four CGI films that came out this year that seem poorly done. The animation, without a doubt, is stellar, however it is no Toy Story, Shrek, or Finding Nemo. According to the website RottenTomatoes, it received a 15% rating (good films generate a 60% rating or more) and for good reason. It is just too unfunny and uninteresting to be a great movie. Violence: Minor / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: None   Positive
Positive - I rented this for my 3 year old, and he absolutely loves it!! I am probably going to get it for him for Christmas. I have to agree that Doogal himself is not my favorite character, but he has a good heart....is just a bit lazy and sassy. Train is adorable, and the cow (played by whoopie) is funny...wouldn't expect any less. The references to other movies made it entertaining for me, and I found myself stopping my housework to watch it again. The things in it that might have been left out would be the 'tooting' moose, but even this was not done in an offensive way. He toots, but no one says anything, so I don't even call attention to it. Train says, 'oops, I tooted'...but I told my son (when he informed me that trains don't have bottoms) that they toot-toot with their whistle. It DOES say stupid once or twice, and idiot once (but at least it was the bad guy that said that). One character says 'I pooped my pants'...hopefully my son won't choose that line to repeat, but I can think of much worse. Overall, I think it was a good movie for small children. The wizards and magic, I don't believe go against Christianity...any more than the magic in Cinderella or other classics like that. It promoted friendship and teamwork, and good wins in the end. A- Neutral
Neutral - I just saw this movie with my 3 year old daughter. We both enjoyed it, although she did find some parts a little scary. I would not take a sensitive child who is easily scared. My daughter did make it through and said at the end that 'it wasn’t too scary'. There are a good and bad 'wizard' portrayed in the movie so if magic offends you don’t see this movie. (There are a few questionable quotes such as 'good magic never dies'.) Negative
Negative - I took my 6 year old daughter to see this. From a parent’s perspective, this movie was quite boring. I almost fell asleep during the movie. I thought it would be similiar to Hoodwinked (which I enjoyed), because I’d heard that it came from the same makers. There were some similiarities as far as using rock music and the already seen 'roller coaster' ride. (In Hoodwinked it was mining cars; in this one, it’s trains.) I was surprised to see (or hear) so many famous actors in the film. None of whom my daughter knew, but whom I picked up on (most notably, the familiar Whoopi Goldberg and Jon Stewart). The most positive thing about the movie is the lesson about friendship. With all that said, now for the criticisms. Negative - Why bother waching a movie with no plot. It was slow. Dumb jokes. I like Hoodwinked better this one. Negative - Please don't go to see this movie - plotless, like teletubbies, except it's longer. Even my three and four year old got bored. Comments from young people
Neutral - Me and my 10 year old sister saw this movie. I thought it was boring, But, she liked it. I think this movie would be better for young kids, There's nothing wrong with it and it teaches a good lesson. Positive - A great movie!! …It actually has a lot of 12 year-old humor! Not just for 5-7 year olds. An excellent movie! The animation and previews may look like a waste of time, but it is SO not. It’s worth a trip to Blockbuster! |
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