The heroine of this 3D cartoon from Blue Sky Studios may be the first young lead to sport multiple piercings.
She also has the kind of body that real teens might recognise (she definitely has breasts under that scruffy sweatshirt but they’re not the kind of pert, sexualised orbs synonymous with the Disney brand). On top of everything else, cynical, independent Mary Katherine, aka MK, is a redhead, joining a list of flame-haired rebels that includes Shrek’s Fiona, Brave’s Merida, Arrietty and Eep Crood. This gal is in good company.
The plot is hardly original. MK (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) gets shrunk and gets involved in a battle in the forest between the decent, eco-friendly Leafmen, whose leader is voiced by Colin Farrell, who are at war with the nature-loathing Boggans. She saves the day and reconnects with her boffin dad. The pleasure is in the detail. The royal goodie she meets, Princess Tara (Beyoncé Knowles), takes a surprisingly democratic approach to succession, while the slug and snail who escort MK on her quest are a hoot.
The natural world is also beautifully and dramatically observed, with the transformation of a “cute” dormouse especially jolting (for once, you don’t mind wearing the 3D goggles — these woodland encounters are properly in-your-face).
Mention must also go to a fine, trippy sequence in which MK’s dad traps her in a specimen jar and a gag about the short lifespan of fruit flies.
Films themselves can be here today, gone tomorrow. Epic, for example, won’t take up much space in the history books but will make a very nice footnote.
