I LOVED it. So great to see lush backgrounds and all the human touches and warmth Animation gives again on the big screen. Thankfully they were able to take the relatively old style story more from the Mermaid/Aladdin days but had the better, darker, more human and subversive comedy that made the Hercules/Mulan days so good. End combination, great. You can tell that unlike Brother Bear and Home on The Range, they had a Studio behind them to SUPPORT the film, rather than PUSH it right into the dumpster. Music was great but didn't "musical" on you when you weren't ready for it, and best of all the CHARACTERS and story came first.
All in all, hopefully Americans will someday start treating Animation seriously and we won't have to deal with the dreadful imitation mind set that brought about Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, and Bolt. The last two had some better ideals trying to save them, but they were too far down the imitation not creation path.
Bottom Line: Originality is everything, and they had a home run in making the film it's own. Unique, wonderful, and artistic.
I just sincerely hope that someday this country begins to appreciate Animation better than it is.
This is a step in the right direction, let's hope the audience follows.
(Also, the Shadowman is awesome, and Surrealist Animation I love very very much and wasn't expecting. Thank you!)
