'UglyDolls' [Blu-ray+DVD+Digital]
(Zachary Levi, Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monáe, Blake Shelton, Wanda Sykes, et al / Blu-ray + DVD + Digital / NR / 2019 / Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
Overview: An adorable animated adventure in which the free-spirited 'UglyDolls', lead by Moxie (Kelly Clarkson), journey beyond Uglyville to discover the town of Perfection.
There they confront their desire to be loved and what it means to be different, ultimately realizing that being who you truly are is what matters most.
Blu-ray Verdict: In the adorably different town of Uglyville, weird is celebrated, strange is special and beauty is embraced as more than simply meets the eye.
Millions of dolls are manufactured every year for kids to play. But what happens to those that are less than perfect?
The ones who aren't perfect enough to hit the stores because of their irregularities go to Uglyville where all the rejected dolls are sent to live.
One plucky doll named Moxy, played by Kelly Clarkson, believes that she will get chosen to be someone's doll eventually.
She convinces her friends to join her in search of the big world, but instead, they come across the Institute for Perfection where dolls go through a series of tests to be paired with the right child.
Moxy (Clarkson) and her crew are odd and not the most detailed, but their personalities are etched into the design which goes in time with the world crafted.
This world may not be the most realistic or detail oriented, but it's color, angles, and sort of Hodge podge approach lead to a mish-mash world of fun that would be beautiful as a theme park.
Ergo, ' UglyDolls' manages to add personality into each of the two worlds, mirroring the approach to life each collective bunch represents.
Regardless of which place you prefer, the movie holds the cute factor that is intended for the key audience, creating the safe, family friendly environment that parents would like their young ones to see.
To help further bring the world to life, a talented voice cast has at least been recruited with singers, comedians, and sassy actresses to assist with bringing that last bit of spark to the characters needed.
Clarkson, Jonas, and Monae are the ones who take point using their vocal talents to not only deliver the simplistic writing of the film and even more deliver the lines of the soundtrack this movie was focused on.
The variety of voice talents were marginally used well and balanced to make sure every character got some screen time. Through whatever means though, the movie has some obvious selling points.
The main one surrounds the morals about inner beauty, self-worth, and believing in yourself. Cliché? Absolutely, but an important lesson for the young generation, and their chaperones to learn in hopes of establishing new grounds for self-confidence.
That emotional gimmick, touched my heart personally, but for many of the group it may not quite penetrate the cerebral cortex like they wanted.
Instead the morals will be lost to the toe tapping tunes that this movie is going to use. Much like 'Frozen', the soundtrack is going to be more memorable than the movie, with a number of reprises used to expand the soundtrack ever so slightly.
Plenty of these songs have much emotion, but it's going to be the bubble gum pop beat that gets your kids going, bump up sales, and potentially get overplayed.
In truth, 'UglyDolls' is a simple, yet cutely endearing story, but lacks some of the fundamental moments that Disney does so well.
Most of the characters do contribute in the form of comedy, but the character development is lacking for the others, leading to merely colorful outlines that will be perfect for action figures.
Perhaps this could have been accomplished if the plot did not seem so rushed, trying to get from start to finish in the rapid time limit they set.
In doing this, the impasses for our dolls were not that impressive and easily bypassed, the threat level essentially nullified by the cute antics of our group.
The result is that the movie does not quite have the most memorable moments that will stay with us until the end of time.
That said, and overall, 'UglyDolls' is very cute and I loved the themes, world building and energy built into its design and the presentation.
Yet, the movie fails to find the balance and sense of adventure that others have held from other studios with bigger budgets.
More story planning was needed, and less focus on limited audiences would have been nice, with a little more maturity ingrained to help out.
Yet, the movie really needed to steer away from the focus on merchandising to leave an imprint and be known as one of the greats.
It is not horrible at all, far from it, but the limited audience scope is going to be the main hesitation for parents to dig deep into their pockets; which is a great shame, to be honest (FYI: Please do though, you won't regret it and your kids will love you forever!) This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Feature of:
Sing-Along Edition
Sing Along Tease – A small taste of the big fun the Sing-Along Edition provides
Fun with the Cast of UglyDolls – Watch the cast of UglyDolls play fun games that showcase their unique talents
Making UglyDolls – A closer look at the music behind the film and the talented voice cast that brings these rich characters to life
Theatrical Trailers
Unconventionality rules in 'UglyDolls', the fun and quirky animated musical debuting on Digital on July 16th, 2019 and on Blu-rayTM Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand on July 30th, 2019 from STXfilms and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
www.UPHE.com
Official 'UglyDolls' Trailer
Official 'UglyDolls' @ Facebook!
Official 'UglyDolls' Website!