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Doogal

I don’t remember seeing “Doogal” advertised on television, print or billboard when it came out last February. And after watching, there wasn’t anything special that reinvigorated the animation genre, or left a fond smile in my immediate memory. The only thing that set itself apart from a B-rate children’s television special was the list of actors rolled over the end credits. But what a list it is: Chevy Chase, Judi Dench, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Stewart, William H. Macy, Kylie Minogue, Ian McKellen, Jimmy Fallon and Kevin Smith; somebody up there liked this film enough to coax nearly 10 big name stars into lending their vocal talents. But even celebrity pipes couldn’t save this banal piece. The producers should have stuck to no-name actors and whipped out some magic box office voodoo dolls for luck.

I realize why I don’t remember seeing any advertisements for the film when it graced the big screen. I very well may have seen some form of press regarding it, but its utter ordinariness caused me to forget nearly everything I saw. The animation in “Doogal” is kin to the 3D Care Bears episodes that play nonstop on the Disney Channel. The sprites look smooth and are animated well. But the simple fact is the sprites themselves don’t leave much room for excitement or pizzazz, a necessary component in today’s competitive computer graphic world. “Doogal” is possibly the blandest lead character of any story in history. And his group of misfits, which include a snail, cow, rabbit and other talking animals, are equally trite.

Before I express my dismay over the rest of the film, let me briefly explain the plot. “Doogal” the dog (Daniel Tay) is best friends with Florence (Minogue), a young girl. She gets trapped in a frozen carousel, the work of evil mad wizard Zeebad (Stewart). Good wizard Zebedee (McKellen) tells Doogal and posse (Goldberg, Macy, Fallon) they must obtain the three mysterious diamonds to melt the ice and relieve the land of the eternal winter Zeebad has brought. So they all set off to find the diamonds, save Penelope and restore peace and order to the land. Did the writers have a write-by-numbers book to aid the creative process? It didn’t help them.

The simple fact is, bad writing will always be bad writing. The storyline of “Doogal” is a barebones attempt at a predictable plot: save the princess and restore order from evil. Since the constant pop jokes ala “Shrek” are the only unique thing about the film, the characters make constant references to the films and pop culture references they spoof. As if we couldn’t tell you’re making fun of “insert random movie here”. You don’t need to go on about how you’ve made 29 references and are about to go for number 30. Thinking the millions of fans who bought Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” record are going to love the film because there is a 10-second reference in the film is a mistake. We’ve already sat through these jokes in every other animated fare.

Here’s a pointer for the next project the “Doogal” producers take up. Lose the popular references, write a real story and hire someone more experienced in character design than my 8-year-old nephew. After all, variety is the spice of life.

Written by: Jason Villemez

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