Boy Story
Sometimes I just can't help measuring a film I'm
watching against other pictures in the same genre. In
the case of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, the
genre is that of the computer-animated feature. Now, I
know what you're thinking: this isn't a genre, but a
medium (computer animation), applied to feature length
narratives. Technically, you're right. But this new
medium has, so far, pretty much set its generic
parameters as "kids' fare." So far, computer animation
has been applied to fairy tales involving toys, bugs,
ogres, and the like. With the exception of last summer's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, full-length computer-animated features have, thus far, fallen into the realm of children's fantasy.
And within this realm, Pixar and Dreamworks have
compiled an impressive roster of films. Toy
Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life,
Monsters Inc., Antz, and Shrek
are all, in my opinion, quality pictures. The
animation in each is colorful and detailed, and the
stories are clever and witty. Most importantly,
they're children's fantasy films that can be enjoyed
by adults as well. And I think the mark of a good
children's film is a film that isn't dumbed down, but
rather captures the magic of child-related things
(toys, monsters, bugs, and so on) in a way that is
widely appealing. As I sat in the theater waiting for
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius to begin, I found
myself wondering how the film would "stack up" against
the few, but particularly accomplished, other computer
animated films that have been released in the seven
years since Toy Story broke that new ground in
1995.
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a fantasy about a
whiz kid inventor who, with the help of his friends,
must rescue all the parents of his neighborhood from
the clutches of malevolent space aliens. While there's
nothing new here story-wise, producer/writer/director
John A. Davis, producer/writer Steve Oedekirk, and
animation director Keith Alcorn, load the film with a
lot of cool inventions (a shrink ray, a robot dog, a
soda that guarantees one burp per sip) and some funny
moments involving Jimmy (voiced by Debi Derryberry)
and his classmates. Primary among them is the
asthmatic Carl Wheezer (Rob Paulsen) and the
smart-alecky Cindy Vortex (Carolyn Lawrence).
Together, the kids connive to rocket off to another
planet and turn their egg-shaped foes to slime: one
method involves slapping a pair of headphones on an
alien and blaring The Go-Gos at full volume (could
anyone avoid internal combustion listening to Belinda
Carlisle at full volume?).
But as a whole, the film lacks the quality of story,
character, humor, and animation that we've come to
expect in the seven short years of computer-animated
film history. Davis and Oedekirk try to inject some
warmth into the tale by having Jimmy overcome his
diminutive size, realizing that his mind is what
really counts (pay attention kids: there's a message
there), but the character development feels contrived
and takes a backseat to the rapidly paced plot. This
plot does its best to entertain with a constant
barrage of wacky antics concerning kid empowerment
(they're saving their parents, after all) and peppered
with slapstick humor that is often of the gross-out
variety (boogers, burps, slime, and flatulence).
But hey, it's for kids, right? And kids don't care
about things like character development, as long as
the story is fun to watch. For a more illuminating
look at this aspect of Jimmy Neutron: Boy
Genius, I'll turn to my 12-year-old sister Rachel,
a PopMatters veteran (see her review of Recess,
and please stop sending her so much fan mail, as it's
beginning to go to her head), who will give her
opinion on the film:
Jimmy Neutron was a cute movie and it was
pretty funny, but I think it's more of a movie for
kids aged 3 to 10. I would recommend it, though,
because it has a good storyline. Monsters Inc.
is kind of similar to Jimmy Neutron, because
both deal with funny characters on a wild adventure,
but Monsters Inc. is better because of its
characters.
And there you have it.
