Smallfoot - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Smallfoot

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Stories about learning the TRUTH and it setting you free are about as old as time. Humanity has a long history of sticking our heads in the sand and refusing to get used to changes in our world that comes from an expanded knowledge base. The train was considered an evil device by some at one time, people refused to believe the world is round (and embarrassingly that mentality has surfaced as a fringe subset of today’s society), and countless other advances have been balked at due to fear and a desire to stay with “tradition”. Smallfoot , based off of the children’s book “Yeti Tracks” by Sergio Pablos, takes that same old story and twists it around with a cute little tale of Yetis and humans learning about each other’s existence once.

Up above the clouds in a Tibetan like mountain, a whole exists outside of the purvue of man. Out there lives a whole civilization of Yetis and their way of life. A young Yeti by the name of Migo (Channing Tatum) lives by the stones (laws the yeti’s live by, written on literal stone) and is happy as a clam with his ignorance of the outside world. Singing, dancing, and preparing to be a gong ringer (a gong which supposedly allows the sun to rise), Migo suddenly stumbles upon the unthinkable. A lone human survivor of a plane crash. To the Yetis humans are nothing by myths and legends, the mysterious “smallfoot” who is commonly thought of as JUST a legend (thanks to the immutable “truth” of the stones. However, when Migo goes back to tell the others, he’s laughed at and banished for denying the truth of the stones by the Stone Master (Common)

Dejected and banished, Migo, along with the help of some outcast yeti themselves, travels down below the mist of the mountain tops and into the unknown below. There he runs into a “smallfoot” by the name of Perry (James Corden) who is desperate for his nature show ratings to increase. Seeing an opportunity with the chance meeting, Perry and Migo head up the mountain to show the rest of the village that he was NOT lying, and that the smallfoot DOES exist (while Perry naturally gets to film the whole thing and have his ratings shoot through the ceiling). Little does the optimistic Yeti know, but even when faced with the truth, there will be incredible opposition to change, and the push back from said opposition may very well be enough to sway even the most stalwart believer.

Smallfoot is an old story about the Sasquatch (yeti, abominable snowman, whatever you want to call him), but it’s toned down a great deal to fit into a PG child’s structured film. To round it out a bit and give it form, the story infuses another age old story. The conflict that arises when deeply established beliefs are challenged. If Smallfoot had tried to be bigger and bolder, I think it might have failed. Warner Brothers is not exactly known for it’s epic animated films (The Iron Giant aside), and Smallfoot succeeds by know exactly where to stay in it’s own lane. The film is simple, cute and hits all of the right notes for a basic animated story. I won’t say the movie is epic or fantastic, but I had a good time and my young nephews did as well.

The voice acting is filled with a lot of well known names, including Danny DeVito, Channing Tatum, up and comer Zendaya, Common and many more. Each lending their own unique talents to the production. Tatum fills the roll the naive sounding Migo to a T (he has that ability to “play dumb” quite well), while James Corden is perfect as the semi sleazy, semi honorable “smallfoot” that Migo finds. Nothing is over the top or incredible, but the film just WORKS on a basic level and is a very solid kids flick.




Rating:

Rated PG for some action, rude humor, and thematic elements




Video:

Smallfoot comes to Blu-ray with a stunning digitally animated transfer, that rides the edge of perfection REALLY closely. The 2.39:1 AVC encoded image is sharp and clean, with immaculate animation lines, and TONS of fine detail. The yeti’s fur is distinct and clear, and you can see every puff of snow rise up from individual footsteps on the screen. The colors lean towards blue and white for a majority of the time, but when the Yetis head down into the little Tibetan city then things get really bright, with neon shopping signs and dark corners with deep shadows. There is a little bit softness to some of the large angle CGI animated shots, but most of the image is extremely sharp and clean, with pure digital eye candy for the visuals.









Audio:

Interestingly enough, Smallfoot received a 7.1 mix for its theatrical run, but the Blu-ray is given a slightly down mixed 5.1 DTS-HD MA track. Still, it’s a very good track and the extra two channels (while a bit disappointing) are shockingly obvious in their absence. The core track is wild and energetic, with wind whipping through the surround channels, as well as a full and robust musical score for the sing along songs. Dialog is crisp and cleanly located up front, and the LFE is given a lot of activity wit the sounds of Yetis roaring, snow crashing down with an avalanche, and the rumbling of human plains go by overhead. It’s a great track and a wonderful addition to the film, as it really sells the whole excitement that the film tries to exude with the PG adventure story.





Extras:

• Yeti Set Go Sing-Along – Sing-Along, fun facts and much more!
• "Super Soozie" Mini Movie – Custom animation featuring the yeti toddler, Soozie
• Migo in The Secret of the Yeti Stones – Featurette featuring Channing Tatum
• Yeti or Not, Here They Come! Imagining Smallfoot – The making of Smallfoot
• Nial Horran "Finally Free" Music Video
• Cyn "Moment of Truth" Music Video
• "Wonderful Life: In 28 Languages, Sung Around the World" Music Video
• Theatrical promos

Final Score: ​

For being a kids film that slipped totally under my theatrical radar, Smallfoot is actually a really cute kids flick. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, or be as epic as Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks, but rather succeeds as a mid level animated film that really does work on many levels. It hits the core basics of great animation, a good moral tale, and plenty of shiny colors for the kids without being some super low budget Monster High film. My family had a good time watching it, and the kiddy wink nephews were more than entertaining with the Yetis and their antics. It also helps that Warner Brothers has given this a very solid array of tech specs (including some decent extras), making me happily give this a thumbs up as a cute watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Channing Tatum, Zendaya, Danny DeVito, LeBron James, Common, Gina Rodriguez, Yara Shahidi, James Corden
Directed by: Karey Kirkpatrick, Jason Reisig
Written by: Karey Kirkpatrick, Clara Sera, John Requa, Glenn Ficarra (Screenplay), Sergio Pablos (Story)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Korean: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish, French, Portuguese, English DVS DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG
Runtime: 96 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Own Smallfoot on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD on December 11 or Own It Early on Digital on December 4!

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Cute Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check this out with the kids.