STRANGE WORLD

US, 2022, 102 minutes, Colour.

Voices of, Jake Gyllenhaal, Denis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu.

Directed by Don Hall, Qui Nguyen.

A Journey to the Centre of the Earth in the Jules Verne vein? Not exactly. Arh voyage 20,000 Leagues under the Sea in the Jules Verne vein? Not exactly. But, if Disney does an animated feature with some of these core elements, it is here in this Strange World.

This is a very colourful Disney film, with a great deal of action. We are in a strange world on a strange planet where the community seems to be prospering, especially with a special vegetable that is electrically charged and supports the life of the town, but, it is beginning to wilt, and there is a need to discover why.

And, this leads to an expedition, futuristic boat and vehicles, to go to the heart of the land to restore the ailing vegetable. (Jules Verne may well approve of this variation on his themes!).

However, we are initially introduced to a father and son, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), a big, bullish, moustachioed, explorer, Hunter as his name suggests will, demanding that his more fragile young son, Searcher (Jake Gylenhaal) accompany him across the forbidding mountain peaks. Searcher refuses, assert himself, goes home. But, it is Searcher who discovers the electric vegetables, building up the farms, harnessing the energy, the community prospering. Searcher now has a teenage son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) and a strong and resourceful (crop dusting pilot) wife (Gabrielle Union).

The screenplay is definitely geared towards a younger audience, the children who enjoy colourful action, at times non-stop, in an exotic location in the seas below their community, full of strange and shape-changing creatures, menacing, playful, might become intrigued. This is a quest film to heal the energy source of the vegetable.

But, there are quite some twists in the plot – the sudden appearance of Jaeger after all these years and the awkwardness between father and son. Then there is the repeat of the father-son scenario when Ethan wants to assert himself against Searcher. Strong mother (busy driving and steering the craft) also intervenes. Then there is the expedition leader (Lucy Liu).

At times, the action stops, with some heart-to heart conversations between the various fathers and sons, which makes this a very strong theme for the younger audiences.

One of the difficulties with a number of animation films these years is that, at times, there is a lot of dialogue, using vocabulary that younger children may not be familiar with, and spoken more quickly than need to be. With Strange World, the talk and action move at a more acceptable pace for a very young audience, their being able to grasp the characters, what is going on and why. To that extent, it is, perhaps, more accessible to the younger audiences (and, again perhaps, something of a trial or endurance for older audiences to sit through).

[Some American audiences have expressed criticism that the screenwriters have made the young Ethan a gay teenager, a touch flirty with his friend. It would seem that younger audiences would not pick up on that, a brief indication earlier, but clearer at the end, the issue of teen role models these days.]

1. The title? The Disney action adventure? The Disney tradition? The variation on a Jules Verne theme?
2. The animation style, the characters, the backgrounds, colourful, inventive? The range of the voice cast?
3. The introduction to Jaeger and Searcher, father and son, the father and his name of “Hunter”? The expeditions, to get over the mountains, the life quest? Searcher, with his father, but unwilling, his father attacking him, despising him, Searcher returning, but the finding of the plant, taking it back to the community, his achievement?
4. 25 years later, the prosperity of the community, Searcher and his wife, strong wife, mother, Pilate and crop dusting, Ethan, the teenager, with the other boys, his work with his father, the farm? Ethan and the gay theme?
5. The situation with the plant, its electric qualities, powerhouse for the whole community? The prosperity, the farms, the markets, community life?
6. The failure of the plant, the beginning of the mission? Searcher and his sense of responsibility? The other members of the team, the vehicles, setting out on the expedition? Ethan hiding away?
7. The expedition, into the interior of the planet, like an underground sea, the visuals of the vegetation, the creatures, colour, movement, comic touches?
8. The succession of adventures, dangers, the vehicle, the crew, Searches wife and her skills?
9. The aggressive creatures, the dangers? The discovery of the truth about the plant, aggressive?
10. The heroics, Ethan and his wanting to be involved, captured, dangers? The defiance of his father, the repetition of Searcher rebelling against his father? Searcher eventually realising this?
11. Jaeger, his appearance after 25 years, Bluff style, his adventures, reuniting with Searcher? Their working together? Resolving difficulties?
12. The buildup to the climax, the aggressive plant, the power, the vehicles, the crew, the wife and her skills?
13. The resolution, new beginnings, family reconciliations?