I suppose one could look at Ferngully as innocent guff for young viewers (except for a more adolescent sequence wherein Zak and Crysta get wet together), but looking at this 1992 flick from the perspective of 2005 it seems more like eco propaganda for children. We learn that technology (except for cassette tape players, which are fun) leads to death and destruction, the spirits of wise people are recycled into the living, trees feel pain when cut, research on animals is conducted by wanton brutes and logging companies are on the side of evil. These days, you can pay big money and be taught all theses things at a university. I guess I wasn't too surprised when I read that this movie was released on Earth-Worship Day (Nature good--humans bad.) Robin Williams is funny as Batty the Bat, better than the same routine on fast forward, which he did for the genie in Aladdin (also 1992).
Review of FernGully: The Last Rainforest
