Aubrey Malone
Blinky Bill: The Movie (G)
One wouldn’t have thought a koala bear would have enough diversity in his features to be watchable enough for an animated film lasting 87 minutes. On the other hand, I’ve always found the Australian accent amusing. When it’s exaggerated, as it is here, the spoken word compensates for any shortcomings in the visuals.
The script is also whip-smart, awash with catchphrases, puns, quirky rejoinders and even a few adult quips and in-jokes. It picks up the slack when the plot undergoes the occasional lapse. Basically it deals with the eponymous character searching for his missing dad.
In contrast to the plethora of effects-laden extravaganzas we’ve been vouchsafed of late, this is a decidedly old-fashioned film with a decidedly 2D look about it. With a more extravagant budget it could have amplified the convolutions of the storyline but instead it seems content to keep things tight without pushing the financial boat out.
In doing so it sacrifices some of the urgency one might have expected from the fraternal search. On the credit side, this gives it time to devote to other things, like the affectionate relationship that develops between Blinky and a female koala, Nutsy, whom he rescues from incarceration in a zoo.
There’s also a lizard called Jacko, a nefarious mayor, a pair of emus whose piece de resistance is acting as propellers for a home-made rescue plane and a predatory cat (Sir Claude) that speaks in a voice reminiscent of George Sanders playing the posh tiger in The Jungle Book. Toni Collette does the voices for both emus. (How does this lady find time to eat? She seems to be in every second film these days.)
There are some longueurs even in the 87 minutes, and too many threats voiced by Sir Claude to eat Blinky. This reduces their impact over time. Indeed, repetition is a problem with the film in general. It needs more muscle to give it the same pulling power its more high profile competitors will have at the box office this summer.
Drama
It needs more drama too. Apart from some seminal set-pieces (like the scene where Blinky and Nutsy are almost eaten by dinosaurs) it’s more like a light-hearted romp through the Outback than an adventure proper. The backdrops also lack the richness we’ve come to expect from animated films these days.
Have we been spoiled? Perhaps so, but the thing about spoiling people is that they expect to continue to be spoiled, and Blinky Bill is remiss in a few departments on this score.
That said, it will be highly enjoyed by younger viewers. In some ways it brought me back to the cartoons of my childhood where things weren’t quite so fussy in the special effects areas, or the audio-visual ones. Its charm lies in its simplicity – a very outmoded virtue nowadays if the current crop of quasi-sophisticated fare is anything to judge by.
Good ***