FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

Director:

Bill Kroyer

Writers:

Jim Cox (screenplay)
Diana Young (original stories)

Release Date:

10 April 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

"Do you believe in humans?"

Plot:

The magical inhabitants of a rainforest called FernGully fight to save their home that is threatened by logging and a polluting force of destruction called Hexxus.

Plot Keywords:

Fairy | Logging | Rain Forest | Destruction | Beetle

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tim Curry	...	Hexxus (voice)
Samantha Mathis	...	Crysta (voice)
Christian Slater	...	Pips (voice)
Jonathan Ward	...	Zak Young (voice)
Robin Williams	...	Batty Koda (voice)
Grace Zabriskie	...	Magi Lune (voice)
Geoffrey Blake	...	Ralph (voice)
Robert Pastorelli	...	Tony (voice)
Cheech Marin	...	Stump (voice)
Tommy Chong	...	Root (voice)
Tone Loc	...	Goanna (voice)
Townsend Coleman	...	Knotty (voice)
Brian Cummings	...	Ock (voice)
Kathleen Freeman	...	Edler (voice)
Janet Gilmore	...	Fairy (voice)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | USA:G (certificate #31358) | Australia:G | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:U | Singapore:G

Company:

FAI Films

Trivia:

Originally supposed to be released in November 1991 but the release was delayed to avoid the competition with Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Goofs:

Continuity: The window that Zack climbs through to get inside the leveler is shown to be halfway up from the inside but is rolled all the way down from the outside.

Quotes:

Goanna: [about to eat Zak] Welcome to the food chain.
Crysta: Stop! He's a human!
Goanna: Uhh... what's a human?
Batty Koda: Delicious and nutritious! Tastes just like chicken!
Crysta: [Crysta glares at Batty, then flies over to the Goanna] He's my friend.
Goanna: Any friend of a fairy...
[spits out Zak]
Goanna: ... is a friend of mine.
Crysta: Thanks.
Goanna: You owe me a free dinner after this one.

Movie Connections:

References "I Love Lucy" (1951)

Soundtrack:

Land Of A Thousand Dances

A well executed ecologistic tale

Ferngully is an example of how to do an educational movie without being boring. It is the story of an Australian rainforest endangered by human development. Zak, one of the worker of a team that is destroying the forest to build a road is shrunk by a fairy (Chrysta) and introduced to the magical world that he was destroying.

The animation is good, with rich colors and gorgeous visuals of the forest. The characters are well designed and funny, the bat Batty being the most hilarious. The music is nice, too, with modern rhythms that mix well with the fast pace of the movie. The best song is the one performed by the bad guy, Hexxus, a literaly slimy demon, that perfectly represents the greed of modern society.

This is a little gem in the Disney-dominated world of animation. Don't miss it.