Jumbo animation

Jumbo is a lovable bite-sized pachyderm, looking for his lost father. Great hook for an animation flick: the only critter cuter than a baby elephant is a kitten or a pup. And the quality of the animation in this film, which originated in Thailand, is very good indeed. For once it8217;s not an unthinking Disney copy, and the characters and the lush background look three dimensionally filled out.

Except Jumbo8217;s tale8212;his travels through a jungle, where he misplaces his mother, bumps into pretty she-elephant Sonia who hates the name Pinky, and comes across good people8212;is not as good as it can get. The pace is lax, and the film is too close to Bollywood conventions to really feel fresh: romantic ditties, cartoonish sidekicks, and long dialogue, which don8217;t jell with the general tone of the film.

The film has been re-packaged for Indian audiences, which means it has been voiced by Bollywood actors. One of the much-publicised high-points of the film is Akshay8217;s presence8212;his older Jumbo aka Jayveer who goes into battle and saves his kingdom, is instantly recognisable. He also does a snappy item number, which unspools along with the credits.

But Jumbo needed to have been nimbler, and lighter on its feet, to be a lot more fun.

shubhra.guptagmail.com