Film Review - Disney’s Strange World

Images courtesy of The Walt Disney Company.

Part Journey to the Centre of the Earth, part Atlantis and part Strange Voyage, Disney's Strange World harkens back to the old school sci-fi/adventure films that were all the rage amongst family fare in the 90s and early 2000s. Taking a pulpy story about exploring the unknown and giving it a splash of modern sensibilities and the gorgeous 3D animation that has become synonymous with the Disney/Pixar brand, Strange World offers up serviceable escapism and a colourful distraction for the little ones, even if the script could've done with a bit more juice.

Focusing on father-son duo Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) and Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), a family name synonymous with Indianna Jones-type explorers, the story kicks off with the missing Jaeger Clade (voiced by Dennis Quaid, who just so happened to be the lead in the Strange Voyage remake, Innerspace), and the discovery of a new source of energy in the form of “Pando”, a harvestable crop that Searcher uses as his out from the treacherous family business. While the themes of forced tradition, varying aspects of masculinity and environmental harmony are all agreeable enough, where the film really blossomed for me was the worldbuilding.

Almost as if Disney whipped this up as an animated proof-of-concept for the upcoming Avatar sequels (Pando? Pando…ra??), the biological titular world is lush with gooey, surreal creatures, rendered in vivid shades of purple, blue and pink. It's exactly the kind of stuff a nerd like me, who spent many a recess digging for bugs, goes positively bonkers for. But almost as much as what it does, it's also what Strange World doesn't do that I found quaint and pleasantly surprising. For starters, the missing father is found within the first half hour, and the out-of-the-picture mother isn't dead, but just happily remarried. It's not a princess story, as much as Disney has practically got those down to a science at this point, and I was kind of surprised when the new honorary first gay love interest was actually alluded to in more than one line of dialogue.

While the story isn't likely to blow anyone's mind, nor is the dialogue really up to snuff with Disney's usual pedigree, those faults are forgivable when the intentions seem so well-meaning, for the most part. Offering a slice of pulpy, moralistic sci-fi that feels like a throwback to before 2D animation had died, Strange World is good, lighthearted fun, gesturing gently at the hard-headed nature of father-son relationships.

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Disney’s Strange World is screening in cinemas from Thursday, November 24th. For tickets and more info, click here.