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2008-12-12

by John Esther

Dragon Hunters

Summary

Floating deeds

Article

One of the 14 films submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the three nominations in the best animation feature category, Dragon Hunters will make its one-week qualifying run starting today at Laemmle’s Grande 4-Plex Theatre in Downtown, Los Angeles.

Set in a mystical kingdom of non-firma terra (“things fall apart; the center cannot hold”) a dragon so big and powerful and with such ferocious eyes that to gaze upon can drive a warrior blind or mad (“a vast image out of Spritus Mundi troubles my sight”), is about to rise from its long sleep and wreak havoc on the dark world (“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last”).

Okay, putting aside the near-fetched allusions – and there are others (“Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds”; “were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle”) -- to William Yeats’ The Second Coming (the greatest poem by an overrated and reactionary poet) filmmakers Guillaume Ivernel and Arthur Qwak’s Dragon Hunters follows the tale of a wandering and wondering girl who reads lots of fairy tales, Zoe (voice by Mary Mouser), and her band of misfits who have taken it upon themselves to save the day. (In fact nobody else notices any threat from the dragon accept those immediately involved in Zoe’s adventure.)

Joining zany Zoe’s crusade are the fierce and light-bulb-bodied-like-Mr. Invincible warrior, Lian Chu (voice by Forest Whitaker), his entrepreneurial and intimate partner, Gwizdo (voice by Rob Paulsen), and Hector (voice by David Wittenberg), a fuzzy wuzzy quasi-Kurosawa Kyoami.

Full of pluck and pecuniary pining for the funds necessary for the small farm the three males dream of building together, the quartet face giant pucks and pests along the path to prosperity and posterity.

In light of the movie’s elementary prose, its playing time of 82 minutes, and the playful animation, Dragon Hunters is pretty much a pretty little pediatric picture. Absent are the larger issues of alienation and personal strive found in such animated movie this year, such as Kung Fu Panda, Waltz with Bashir, Fly Me to the Moon and WALL-E (reportedly).

Because there are at least eight but fewer than 16 submissions, a maximum of three movies can garner Oscar nominations on Jan. 22.

Considering Dragon Hunters is going up against heavyweight contenders as Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, The Tale of Despereaux (from England), Waltz with Bashir (Israel, my favorite so far), WALL-E (the overwhelming favorite right now) and Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who!, there probably will not be a second coming to a local theater for this family-friendly flick.

Other short list Oscar contenders include the awful Fly Me to the Moon (3-D) plus the hitherto unseen $9.99 (Australian stop motion), Bolt (3-D), Delgo, Igor, The Sky Crawlers (Japanese anime) and Sword of the Stranger (Japanese anime).

Dragon Hunters screens at Laemmle’s Grande 4-Plex Theatre, 345 South Figueroa Stree, Los Angeles. For more information, log onto www.laemmle.com