Let's face it, a lot of the reviews that 'The Pebble and the Penguin' has gotten here at IMDB are right that this movie's pretty bad, but trust me, there's worse ones than this. 'Rock-A-Doodle' without question is the worst of Don Bluth's movies (though I haven't seen it in years, I remember it being hideous), and although I haven't seen 'Thumbelina' all the way through, I know that it's worse than 'Pebble and the Penguin' too (the few minutes I saw of 'Thumbelina' were just too painful).
Anyhow, 'The Pebble and the Penguin' is a bit of a mess. As you may know, a shy penguin named Hubie is hell-bent on getting this strange green pebble to his lovebird, Marina. This could have been pretty good, but you can tell that they really rushed it. Then there's Drake, the most annoying villain... ever. In order to have a really good villain, he/she has to be somewhat likeable as well as sinister. But Drake's not likeable by a longshot. Tim Curry did voice him beautifully, though, so I've got to give that fact some credit.
The only great character is Rocko. Now HE has some personality going on. Hubie and Marina are okay, but Rocko's the one who steals the show.
One of the most glaring things about this movie is the animation. But I wouldn't entirely blame Don Bluth for this. I think he left this movie before it was finished, and who could blame him? There's a lot of odd coloring here, and the animation can vary from good to unbearable. And somehow the penguins in this movie just didn't look 'penguiny'. They just looked... wrong. Chilly Willy is more accurate to looking like a real penguin than any penguins here.
Don't expect much for great songs either. The only nice one is "Now and Forever" at the very beginning. The rest will give you a chance to go to the bathroom.
And I'm fed up with writers thinking the only way to defeat the antagonist is to beat the tar out of him. What kind of message is that?
I think if they spent some more time on this movie it wouldn't have been too bad. In fact, it could have been good. Still, it's better than some other late movies of Don Bluth's.
