Rating: 5/10
Genre: Animation
Related Titles: The Grinch, Puss in Boots, The Boxtrolls
By Leanne Harragan
This sickly sweet trailer covers up for a slightly darker plot line, nothing overly original. June and her mother create the world of Wonderland through their imaginations, nothing is left out and their house is full of the theme park from top to bottom. When illness strikes June's mother and she is sent away to recover, June struggles to deal with her emotions and can't keep wonderland alive without her support. The whole thing while being quite emotional - I won't lie, I was reaching for the tissues, is kind of a rip of off Disney Pixar's Inside Out. I'm not saying it was a complete rip-off, but the underlying premise of it was done a lot better by Disney of course.
I liked the idea of the theme park being a almost escape for June and the journey she goes on to recover it and the animation although being sickly sweet was solid, the film looks very good. The animation is good and the characters are very well developed, this is often a rarity. June and the relationship between her mother is fantastic and even the relationship between her and her father is well done. This makes all the difference in a film with a lacking plot, without the well-developed characters this film would have struggled to make an impact.
One thing that is always key for an animation is a good voice cast, this film is no exception. With recognisable names like Jennifer Garner, Mila Kunis and Matthew Broderick being some of the topped billed cast, there was never any doubt about the voice cast and there ability to bring the characters to life.
I've given this film such a mixed review because although the animation and voice cast were good, there was more than one scene that felt dragged out to make this into a full length feature. I also felt that although the message was good and wasn't too heavy-handedly thrown in, it has been done better before.
Rating: 7.5/10
By Rebecca Mannick
Despite what many critics say I really enjoyed Wonder Park! I though it was super adorable film with a really emotional story and meaning. I was already anticipating the release as Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee were starring in this animated movie. I must say that they did a brilliant job as their characters Gus and Cooper who were hilarious. However I do believe Joe and Caspar only feature in the UK version of the film, they have alternative actors portraying the characters in the US and Australian versions.
The movie revolves around June Bailey a kid with a huge imagination. June and her mother (Jennifer Garner) came up with Wonderland - the concept, the characters, amusements and rides. Wonderland is run by a few animals: Boomer, a bear who greets the guests, Greta (Mila Kunis), a wild boar, Gus and Cooper, beaver brothers, Steve, a porcupine in love with Greta and Peanut the leader of the pack, a chimpanzee who creates the rides by listening to June's mothers voice. June's mother starts to get ill and is taken away for treatment. June's enthusiasm grows dim as her pain for missing her mother grows stronger. June school bus breaks down while going on a school trip. June runs back home and she stumbles upon Wonderland in the forest.
The story got super emotional at one point and I actually enjoyed that element. It didn't shy away from real- life issues amongst this crazy imaginary theme park. The animals of the park were characterised well and had distinct personalities with dedicated roles. The voice acting in this movie you could not fault, it was precise and energetic in all the right ways. The cast list also had some very big names which isn't a bad thing either. I particularly enjoyed the colours presented - I know that its sort of aimed at children to make it a more sensory experience but I also very much appreciated it. As a character I absolutely love June, she was so so sweet and I felt connected to her almost instantly. Yes Wonder Park has a lot of flaws but I loved it! I feel like if you give it a chance it will entertain you for an hour and a bit!
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