FernGully: The Last Rainforest is a 1992 cartoon movie about the destruction of the environment at the hands of humans. Hexxus, a destructive, evil force feeding off poisons and chemicals, was released years ago by a volcano, and only by calling on the forces of nature and life was the faerie Magi Lune able to trap Hexxus in a gnarled tree, where he couldn't escape — until a couple humans and their tree-leveling machinery come to the rainforest. Crysta (a black-haired heroine, for once!), a faerie learning the secrets of the forest, teams up with a human named Zak and Batty Koda, a laboratory testing bat, to stop Hexxus from destroying Fern Gully.
The movie includes several songs about the importance of the environment, the dangers of pollution and the magic of life. It features the vocal talents of Tim Curry, Robin Williams, Samantha Mathis, Grace Zabriskie, Christian Slater and Jonathan Ward, as well as smaller parts by Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The soundtrack is available frem Scde, with songs by Robin Williams, Raffi, Elton John, Tone Loc and Tim Curry. It is based on the book FernGully by Diana Young, and there is a sequel called FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue (on home video from 20th Century Fox), neither of which which I have experienced.
Rating: G
Duration: 76 minutes
Director: Bill Kroyer
Producers: Wayne Young, Peter Faiman
Screenplay: Jim Cox
Distributer: 20th Century Fox
I love this movie. It has a bit of a cult status among my friends, due to our feeling that it must have been made by Angry Militant Hippies and the fact that we go to a college that seems to breed that type of people. Robin Williams' song about animal experimentation and testing (complete with his many voices mocking cosmetics companies and graduate students) is fantastic, and Tim Curry's voice throughout the sinister "Toxic Love" is very Frank N. Furter. The songs (by Alan Silvestri) are catchy, the animation like 90s Disney movies (many of the forest sketches were done in Australia, where the movie takes place), and the plot entertaining. The dichotomies — human and faerie, machine and nature, creation and destruction — are simple and, though not really applicable to the complicated real world most of us live in, well-founded. If you've got the time, rent it.
Fun Facts:
• For release in Spain, the entire film was dubbed into Spanish by comedian Angel Garó: a feat that entered him into the Guinness Book of World Records.
• Proceeds were donated to projects to benefit the environment.
Requisite Favorite Quote:
Batty Koda: Are you sure?
Zak: I'm positive!
Batty: Only fools are positive.
Zak: Are you sure?
Batty: I'm positive. Oh! I fell for it!
References:
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6302481805/ref=pm_dp_ln_v_7/104-7491972-4785531?v=glance&s=video&vi=quotes-trivia
Hollywood.com: http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/183272