Warner Bros. Pictures
Animation always gets pigeonholed as simple kiddie fare mainly because we — of a certain age at least — associate cartoons with being a kid and getting up early Saturday morning to watch them. But the people behind the animation on the big screen know that they have to keep the interest of the adults who bring the kids to see the movies. The Looney Tunes shorts that were seen at the movies before they became TV staples always had jokes built in for the adults. Disney’s animated features could tug on grown-up heartstrings, and Pixar’s films became the touchstone for animated films that played equally well to children and adults, and that usually ended up touching the adults on a deeper emotional level than their children. I’ve seen other studios try their hand at animation with stories that could cater to all ages but sometimes they just miss the mark. They’re bright and colorful for the kids, but the storytelling is just too juvenile to hold the parents’ interest.
With that in mind, I was not really sure what to expect from Smallfoot from the studio that gave us the very narrowly aimed Storks and the more generalized The Boss Baby. Smallfoot takes place in a mountain village inhabited by the Yeti. The base of the mountain is surrounded by clouds and below that is … nothing, just goats or rams or some animals on whose backs the mountain sits. Every day the snail sun rises at the sound of a gong and the Yeti go about their day, which consists of cranking out ice balls to feed the beasts holding up their home. Wandering outside of the village one day, Migo (Channing Tatum) sees something he’s never seen before — a large metal object hurtling through the sky towards him, crashing into the snow, releasing something into the air. Curious Migo goes to see what it is and discovers the tracks of the mythical Smallfoot (aka, a human), a beast the Yeti have been told doesn’t exist. Excited, Migo tries to tell the villagers of his discovery but the Stonekeeper (basically their leader who carries all of the Yeti laws and belief system carved in stones that he wears on his body like armor) does his best to convince everyone that the Smallfoot does not exist and Migo is wrong. But Migo knows what he saw and is adamant about it, so much so that he ends up being banished from the village for going against the firm belief system.
Determined to find the Smallfoot and bring it back as proof, Migo meets up with other villagers who secretly believe in the Smallfoot, the group led by Meechee … the daughter of the Stonekeeper. They are convinced that there is something below the clouds and rig up a harness to lower Migo down below, hopefully not into nothingness. What he finds is a miraculous world full of Smallfoots and he manages to bring one back. But Migo is not prepared for what happens next.
Smallfoot has a surprisingly deep story that may cause some controversy with more conservative groups. It’s about questioning authority and not accepting something just because someone in charge says it’s true. That authority figure may have reasons for not revealing the truth, believing what they do is for the greater good, but sometimes honesty is the best policy. For Migo, finding a Smallfoot and shaking up his village which has always been told that Smallfoot does not exist, because it’s on a stone, would be like humans actually finding out the government has concrete proof that aliens do exist. It would shake belief systems to their core and lead to anarchy. The story also suggests that tolerance, acceptance and understanding of those different from you is a good thing. There is a reason the Stonekeeper has kept the existence of the Smallfoot a secret, and it’s a really heavy reason that could have been avoided with just a bit of tolerance (which really isn’t the dirty word some people make it out to be). As an adult, all of this really hit me hard but I don’t think the children will really get all of that, at least not the younger ones.
But it’s not all heavy-handed. The movie has a lot of humor, some very catchy songs, and some wonderfully colorful animation (and a screaming goat). All of the Yeti have their own distinctive looks and personalities, and they are brought to life with voice talent that includes Channing Tatum, James Corden (Percy, the Smallfoot), Zendaya (Meechee), Common (Stonekeeper), LeBron James, Danny DeVito. Gina Rodriguez and Patricia Heaton. The Yeti, of course, are not meant to be photo-realistic, but the animators did not skimp on the details like how their hair gently blows in the wind. What I really appreciated here was that neither the Yeti not the Smallfoot can understand each other. They do not share a common language and it takes some time before Migo and Percy can fully communicate … and explains the film’s message of not jumping to conclusions about someone on face value. It’s a very clever approach and it works well.
I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly entertained by Smallfoot. I feared it would be geared strictly for children but the story’s themes really resonate with adults. Perhaps it will spur them on to learn to get to know and accept others they consider different and pass those lessons on to their children. It certainly would make this world a better place.
Smallfoot has a run time of 1 hour 36 minutes and is rated PG for some action, rude humor, and thematic elements.
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