Doogal

Rating

Director

Dave Borthwick, Jean Duval, Frank Passingham

Screenplay

Paul Bassett, Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, Butch Hartman, Tony Leech, Tad Safran, Raolf Sanoussi, Stephane Sanoussi

Length

85 min.

Starring

Daniel Tay, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Chevy Chase, Judi Dench, Kylie Minogue, Ian McKellen, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader

MPAA Rating

G

Review

Even the worst dreck from actors like Will Farrell and David Spade can’t compare to the absolute rubbish inflicted on moviegoers in the new animated film Doogal.

Doogal (the voice of Daniel Tay)is the name of a small, furry dog whose always getting into trouble in his hometown. He’s loved by everyone but causes so much trouble that it’s hard to imagine the town hasn’t put him down for the havoc he’s wrecked. But it’s his sweet tooth that’s getting him into trouble. He can’t resist the call of good sweets. We should realize when this pro-dietary element pops up that we’re in for a moralizing movie but it’s not until the movie starts grinding forward that we realize good eating habits is hardly the worst thing about the film.

Doogal destroys a protective casing on the town’s merry-go-round that releases an evil spring-bouncing toy named Zeebad (voiced by Jon Stewart). He covers the world in ice and snow and traps Doogal’s beloved owner in ice. Doogal sets off on a grand adventure to find three crystals, that in Zeebad’s hands will freeze the sun, but in the right hands will free his ‘owner’ and seal Zeebad back in the amusement ride forever.

Along for the ride are a woeful Train (Chevy Chase), a horribly-untalented singing cow named Ermintrude (Whoopi Goldeberg), a lop-eared hippie rabbit named Dylan (Jimmy Fallon) and a spirited snail called Brian (William H. Macy).Add to the cast British thesp Sir Ian McKellen as the good spirit Zebedee and you have an all-star cast who, on their own, have been great at one time or another. However, together here with a script as dreadful as the worst of Ed Wood mixed with most direct-to-video drivel and you have the biggest waste of talent likely crafted by Hollywood.

Everything here fails to amuse and it’s all thanks to a horrendous, moan-inducing script by a bevy of relative unknowns. Doogal is based on a puppet show from 1960s television and was originally released in Britain as The Magic Roundabout. However, in its acquisition of the pic, recasting and release in the U.S., the newly-founded Weinstein Company has given us little hope that they’ll be able to reach the pinnacle of achievement they had at Miramax.

The screenplay is filled with hundreds of pop culture references. So many in fact that it’s impossible to tell if there’s an actual line of dialogue that isn’t a pun or a direct theft from a better motion picture. Every ounce of dialogue bounces from movie clichéto movie cliché and never takes a break long enough for anyone to walk out. You sit in stunned silence as the film continues to throw out corny line after corny line. It’s like a train wreck, keeping viewers’ eyes glued in one place.

Dreadful is the closest word to describe this abject failure. A friend of mine who loves animated features(even the ones I didn’t such as Robots and Ice Age) actually admitted that she didn’t like this film one bit. She was appalled by it. Now, if you can’t get an animated enthusiast like her on your side, you have little hope to draw in an audience elsewise.

The only laudable aspect of the production is its fluid and vivid computer animation. Other than that, the only suitable end result for Doogal is euthanasia at the local pound.

Review Written

July 24, 2006