Review: Smallfoot (on DVD)

Smallfoot
[DVD j Smallfoot] 

This fun animated film didn’t get anywhere near the acclaim it deserved during its short theatrical run in 2018. Hopefully, it will find a larger audience with its DVD and streaming releases. It features stellar voice work by Channing Tatum (Migo), James Corden (Percy), Zendaya (Meechee), Common (The Stonekeeper), LeBron James (Gwangi), Danny Devito (Dorgle), Gina Rodriguez (Kolka) and many more.

Smallfoot puts a humorous twist on the Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti mythology, in which humans for decades have claimed to have seen or found evidence of the existence of large, furry, bipedal humanoid figures that live in the remote wilderness. In this film, our heroes are a community of Yeti in a remote, cloud-shrouded village high in the (Himalayan?) mountains. When main character Migo sees a human plane crash near his Yeti village, and encounters the human pilot, he reports to his fellow Yeti villagers that he has seen the legendary Smallfoot himself. The village’s tradition-bound spiritual leader, The Stonekeeper, who wears a robe made of enscribed stones that detail the rules the Yeti villagers must all abide by, banishes Migo to the wilderness for his heretical statements. Migo teams up with a small group of outcasts who all believe in the existence of Smallfoot, and by a series of accidents, ends up finding himself journeying below the cloud bank to a human village further down the mountain. Meanwhile, Percy, a nature show TV host desperate to improve his ratings, plans to feature a pretend Yeti encounter, only to find himself face-to-face with Migo. Hijinks ensue…but it’s not all fun-and-games, because revealing the existence of humans to the Yeti society could cause more problems than Migo can imagine, and Percy has to be taught some lessons in what’s truly important before he can empathize with the Yeti’s plight.

Very funny, very entertaining, but also very thought-provoking. The animations is top notch, and the storytelling was compelling. This film can and should be enjoyed by families! And, surprisingly, it is also a musical, with several well-done original pop music numbers scattered throughout the plot. Who knew Channing Tatum could sing as well as he does here?

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Smallfoot web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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