SMALLFOOT ■ Different-sized feat
Warner Bros. Animation is more hit than miss but still clearly struggles to consistently delight in the ways that Disney and Pixar do. SMALLFOOT, the latest animated movie from Warner Bros. Animation, underlines this struggle more than ever before, mostly in terms of its tonal confusion.
Y’see, SMALLFOOT is an animated kids movie. It’s also a musical, but it only has a handful of songs. It explores some surprisingly mature content, which means it’s a family-friendly dramedy, of sorts. Then there’s the comedy, where the cleverer stuff works more often than the Looney Tunes-esque slapstickery.
Ultimately, SMALLFOOT is an inversion of the Yeti fable, wherein a society of hidden Yetis encounter their first small-footed human. While a lot of the story structure feels familiar, it’s the unexpected exploration of the potent grey area of absolute truth vs lying to protect the greater good that resonates most. On one hand, this thematic exploration feels oddly mature in a movie primarily aimed at children. On the other, it’s refreshing to see such a complex topic explored thoughtfully and without a cop-out resolution.
Still, despite this, SMALLFOOT is a tonally divided movie that doesn’t effortlessly drift between the highs and lows like more renowned Disney and Pixar movies do. Fans of animated movies should enjoy SMALLFOOT for the most part, but it’s hard to not get lost in what could have been had the creative team settled on exactly what type of movie they wanted.
