Jungle Girl and the Lost Island of the Dinosaurs (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Geoff & Susan Beak
Written by Paul Leadon, from an original story by Roddy Lee
Starring the Voices Of Ric Herbert, Katy Manning & Troy Planet

Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Let it stay lost.

Emma and her father have gone and gotten themselves shipwrecked somewhere in the South Pacific. The year is 1900 and Emma absolutely hates it there (the island, not the year, mind you). Their ship's captain, Captain Jack, and his mate, Terry, have learned of the statue of a Golden Monkey on the island that will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Somehow, the theft of this statue unleashes a herd of dangerous dinosaurs on the island. No--wait, it gets stranger. It's up to Emma and her trusty friends--Beano, the talking dolphin, Samson the toucan, and Zelinka the python to save the island.

After watching this, to be frank: I wanted to beat the crap out of Emma. She is a rude little girl who's just a flat out bitch. She simply will not stop complaining about how much she hates the island (indeed, it sounded like the exact same line on a loop). Anyway, it was not a great way to endear the audience to your story's protagonist. It says on the outside of the DVD that it's for children ages three and up, but I will not let my little girl watch this one. I honestly think that Emma would teach my daughter incredibly rude manners.

Besides that obvious detraction, the story is flat out insane. The way you get from one thing to another--all these links seem to come completely out of left field--and make no sense whatsoever. The filmmakers worked hard to try and create a world of real humans--and then they throw talking animals in out of nowhere.

The quality of animation is simply horrendous. They seems to have taken giant leaps backward with the production of this film. Granted--it is a children's cartoon, I'm not looking for Hayao Miyazaki here--but the Bugs Bunny cartoons that were produced decades ago seem to be better crafted that this is. It's just a shame.

The DVD gives this cartoon the treatment it deserves: nothing at all. Chapter selection is about the pinnacle of featuredom on this one. In short, it leaves you wishing they had never found the "Lost Island of the Dinosaurs." Just avoid it like the Plague.