Genre:

Animation, Action, Adventure

Release Date:

August 4, 2023

Director:

Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears

Cast:

Paul Rudd, Giancarlo Esposito, Rose Byrne

Plot Summary:

Netflix seems to be in on almost everything anime or manga-related including live-action iterations for some of the more popular franchises. First, having made a Death Note film back in 2017, followed by a live-action Cowboy Bebop series before pivoting to focus on the One Piece and Avatar the Last Airbender series, it seems that they are taking another swing on a big anime property for their streaming service.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix will team with Legendary Entertainment, best known for their monsterverse films centering on Godzilla and King Kong on a live-action feature film based on the popular manga, My Hero Academia. Joby Harold (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Army of the Dead) will write the script as Shinsuke Sato (Alice in Borderland, I Am a Hero) will make his English-language debut as director for the film. My Hero Academia debuted in 2014 and has quickly ascended into one of the more popular manga titles before gaining attention and turning to anime where its currently in its fifth season. 

Legendary boarded the property all the way back in 2018 aiming to create a live-action movie and will aim to generate a wide-scale audience by teaming with Netflix. My Hero Academia revolves around a world in which 80 percent of people have a power called “quirks.” Lead character, Izuku Midoriya, or Deku, is a superhero fanboy who happens to be a part of that unfortunate 20 percent without powers and is discouraged. However, after meeting the legendary hero, All Might, he sets on a path to become the ultimate hero himself.

Adventure is Out There! And “Strange World” is an Epic One indeed! Showcasing breathtaking animation, colourful visuals, heart, and a beautiful story about three generations living up to a family legacy whilst directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen (who also wrote the screenplay) weave in an impactful eco-environmental message.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ original action-adventure “Strange World” journeys deep into an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures await the legendary Clades, a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest—and by far— most crucial mission.

Review

They’re The Clades!

“Strange World” introduces us to the multigenerational Clade family. There’s larger-than-life explorer grandfather Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), his family-orientated farmer son Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), Searcher’s wife and pilot Meridian Clade (Gabrielle Union), and their teenaged 16-year old son Ethan Clade (Jaboukie Young-White) who longs for adventure beyond his father’s farm and together with the help of their crew aboard the Venture, the Clade family alongside their adorable dog Legend, a mischievous blue blobby creature named Splat and the president of Avalonia Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu) navigate through this Strange unique world in a race against time to save their home.

This nostalgic homage to sci-fi adventures has a moving intergenerational storyline, positive diverse representation, and two adorable sidekicks throughout the film we focus on the family dynamic and relationships between Ethan, his parents, and his grandfather. Ethan is a typical teenager who rolls his eyes when his parents smooch, lights up when his friends visit and get completely tongue-tied when his crush, Diazo, is around. Ethan is the first openly gay character in a Disney Animated feature and the way it’s handled throughout is beautifully done. His queerness doesn’t define him it’s part of who he is, it’s refreshing to see how his family embrace him exactly who he is without question.

“Strange World” also challenges the father and son dynamic as Jager represents the old-school explorer wanting to venture beyond the mountains and ultimately leave a lasting legacy, whilst Searcher is caught between that legacy, and Ethan longs for the kind of adventure that echos that of the grandfather he’s never met. Ultimately this brings to the surface deep parental anxieties and regrets as the Clades’ family dynamic becomes clear. An adventurer expects his farmer son to be more like him, and that farmer transfers his unique expectations onto his own son. At its heart “Strange World” is a story about saving your home and repairing generational relationships.

The voice cast is phenomenal throughout as the movie’s heart and soul are its characters. Everyone from Jake Gyllenhaal to Lucy Liu was fantastic, but the standouts for me were Dennis Quaid as Jaeger Clade whose dreams become an obsession, he’s a man too focused on leaving a lasting legacy and Quaid’s vocals provide warmth, charisma which makes this grandfather a very relatable character. Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan Clade provides such a vulnerable and relatable vocal performance as a young boy searching for his purpose and Adventure in life.

The Descent

“Strange World’s” visuals are vibrant and cotton candy-coloured as the new world comes to life around the curious Avalonians. The world-building includes peril at every turn. Avalonia is part agrarian, and part retro-futuristic and the technological society uses a newly discovered bioluminescent plat called “Pando”. These round green saplings give off electricity providing Avalonia with a new energy source. Avalonia itself is a Community woven together from a mix of ethnic cultures, the world is both a peaceful and quiet utopia. 

However, to save their home from dying they must descend into an enormous hole in the ground. the group all end up in a vast, hidden subterranean world where bizarre creatures, looming danger, and point unknown await the legendary family of explorers. The look of this “Strange World” harkens back to pulp-fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. This world is weird, fun, and extraordinary, the artists and animators have truly outdone themselves and have created something truly unexpected as everything looks unique and everything is not as it seems throughout this “Strange World” trees may not be trees and mass landscapes may not be real, plants may suddenly take flight it’s a junglelike landscape composed of every single colour except for green, this place is otherworldly yet grounded. One of its inhabitants was the adorable and mischievous blue blob named Splat and credit to the animators who were responsible for bringing personality and movement to such a character.  

Voyage To The Heart

The environment is something that we think about everyday as we ultimately want our descendants to have a future, but in order to do that we have to realise the choices we make today will and can affect the future. Avalonia’s energy crisis is at the forefront with the bioluminescent Pando becoming the substitute for fossil fuels.
Family is central and each play part in this environmental story. Quaid’s character Jaeger wants to conquer nature whereas Gyllenhaal’s Searcher is the controller as farmers interact with nature. As for Ethan, he’s the conservationist and the character that ultimately drives the message of the story. If we take a small step forward, we can change so much and treat the Earth a different way.

Final Thoughts

The Fate of Strange World

“Strange World” overall is a must watch for the family this festive season, its an epic Adventure that’s fun, showcases breathtaking animation, colourful visuals, heart, and a beautiful story about legacy, and the relationship between a father and son as told through three generations that are surrounded in a relatable world with many issues that we are facing right now shown at the forefront.  The environmentalist-friendly story truly offers plenty of laughs and feels courtesy of Legend — the family’s big, lovable, three-legged dog, who befriends everyone — and Splat, the blob-like, being that Ethan discovers in the seemingly magical world. Both will absolutely delight of younger viewers and certainly sell merchandise. The score by Henry Jackman is thrilling and adventurous harkening back to John Willam’s Indiana Jones soundtrack. There have been noticeably little to none promotion and advertising but this being Disney’s 61st animated feature film truly makes for a theatrical experience.

Helmed by Oscar-winning director Don Hall (Big Hero 6, Raya and the Last Dragon) and co-directed/writer Qui Nguyen(co-writer, Raya and the Last Dragon). Disney’s “Strange World” is now in cinemas.

Click HERE for an explorers activity pack full of “Strange World” goodies!