Four weeks ago (see "At the Movies''), I wrote how the latest Disney/Pixar film Strange World would be debuting on December 23 on Disney+. During my Holiday sabbatical, I saw it several times, and as much as I liked it primarily because it was an exceptionally imaginative high-adventure movie. It had interesting characters, intriguing ideas, stunning visuals, and an amazing color palette. And while I’ll never understand why some people have called it “trash” and “garbage,” I can understand why others didn’t like it; expectations.
Anyone expecting the film to be either a traditional big action science fiction or a conventional animated kids' movie, was bound to be disappointed. Strange World actually has most of the elements of such a blockbuster, it just isn’t paced like one. Right out of the gate, the film devotes a remarkable amount of time to world-building and character development. There are literal life-or-death stakes embedded in the film, including an early permanent on-screen fatality, which is not the kind of thing you’d expect to find in a Disney/Pixar movie. There’s even a ticking clock, the actual phrase “the clock is ticking” is used, twice, but no matter how much or how often the music swells dramatically until we get to the Third Act, things rarely feel particularly perilous.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
