User reviews

Yes, yes, another talking-wild-animal film, complete with journey of discover for the poor half- striped zebra who doesn't fit it. But I found it to be a first-class effort of its type. Oh, yes, it does slow down a bit in the middle; they could have tightened it up quite a lot.

But some of the animated characters were quite clever, humorous, or both. And the cultural memes and stories utilized in the plot, being out of South Africa, were significantly different than the approach that say, Disney or Dreamworks might have taken.

Your kids will enjoy it. And if you appreciate animation, you'll enjoy a fresh approach to a familiar type of animated features.

I thought the a animation wouldn't be as much as I expected but turns out that animation is really amazing, storyline was pretty good too! Totally loveable movie, I would recommend it, especially for kids. Great job guys.

Was very pleasantly surprised by Triggerfish Animation Studio's debut feature 'Zambezia'. It wasn't a great film, inexperience did show and it was rough around the edges. With that being said, it was colourful and entertaining, and also liked that it was made with effort and good intentions and that it had a heart of gold and tried to attract a wider audience.

Actually do feel similarly about Triggerfish's second film 'Khumba', except while 'Zambezia' was decent to pretty good, some elements like the music and voice cast very good, 'Khumba' ranged from average to decent while also having good elements. 'Zambezia' was also the better film to me because of having more consistent pacing and better characters and story. Very little in 'Khumba' is awful, it does have some very good elements even, it's just unexceptional. It is better than 'Zambezia' in the sense that it doesn't try too hard and does less rather than being too busy.

This, with that being said, also presented a problem. As well as being a more derivative plot, being strongly indebted to 'Madagascar' and especially 'The Lion King' as said before and not doing enough to give its own identity, the pacing isn't as smooth here with a middle act that drags rather. And while it was a good thing in a way to leave things uncomplicated 'Khumba' actually makes the mistake of making things too simple. The script is weaker, the humour has its fun amusing moments but lacks the wit and quirkiness of that of 'Zambezia' and too much of the dialogue is trite.

Lack of refinement and low budget still shows in some of the animation, if not quite as much inexperience, a lot of the character designs looking rather stiff still as well as blocky. Not all the characters, generally far more stereotypical, are successfully done (likewise with some of the voice acting), the worst of the stereotypes are overdone and very hammy. The biggest offenders being the hammiest, overly-camp ostrich in animation in Richard E. Grant's Bradley and wannabe-sassy but actually annoyingly abrasive in Loretta Devine's Mama V.

However, the character designs apart, the animation in 'Khumba' is not bad at all. Again, it's surprisingly good. The scenery is beautifully realised and the colours capture the excitement and colour of the safari world to dazzling effect. Most of the voice acting is fine. Liam Neeson's subtly menacing Phango, the always entertaining Steve Buscemi's Skalk (the film's funniest character), stoic Laurence Fishburne's Seko and affecting (but underused) Anika Noni Rose's Lungisa are the standouts. Phango and Skalk are 'Khumba's' strongest characters in a film where there are perhaps too many (this wasn't as much an issue in 'Zambezia'), though the protagonist is likable enough and isn't made too perfect.

'Khumba', like 'Zambezia' was clearly made with good intentions, with some poignantly delivered values and messaging that makes its point but doesn't patronise. It clearly knows what it wants to be and who to aim at, and is not too juvenile or sugary sweet for adults and also not too dark or overly sophisticated for children. Again, 'Khumba's' to appeal to its target audience, to all ages, to all the family and to a wider audience is most admirable, though 'Zambezia' did it better due to a stronger story.

Best of all is the music score. Beautiful, evocative in its Isicathamiya-influence, atmospheric and energetic, it's simply wonderful and the only uniformly and consistently exceptional asset of 'Khumba'.

Overall, colourful and watchable enough, but also a little bland and doesn't quite make it. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I just finished watching Khumba and i found it very interesting, enjoyful and funny to watch. This is by no means only a child movie, even adults will enjoy them. I liked it :) To begin with? The animation is wonderful(at one moment i thought, is this animation), the story is moving, the characters are well written and lovable. Even the "side villain dog" is lovable and funny in a way. You may find out the story a little stereotypical but the journey it will take you through is enjoyable and you are not bored at all. OK the Ostrich is sometimes a bit over. Thats all. There are other characters like tiger, buffalo, rabbit, eagle, Gazelles, hedgehogs apart from zebras that you will surely enjoy.

I even enjoyed it more than "Frozen" which is creating a hype nowadays. Just go ahead don't listen to negative criticism and give it a watch.

This is my first review ever here and English not my first language so please ignore any errors.

I give it 7.5 out of 10.

Khumba is a young zebra born to a watering hole enclosed by a thorn bush fence in the south African desert. His back half has no stripes and his strange appearance is blamed for the drought. His mother tells him about the magic water hole where zebras first received their stripes. It's tale intended to show the equality of all but Khumba sees it as a way to complete his stripes.

The animation is Ice Age level. The voice work has some big names but lacks the pop. The story has a good message but it does meander. The characters have potential but they don't get maximized. There is some humor but it isn't big enough. There is life in the setting but the animation isn't epic enough. It's always good to see animation from other cultures although this one is following the Hollywood model. It's a good effort if not any great works.

Review: It's not exactly the Lion King, but it's a fun movie with laughs along the way. The storyline was average for a kiddie movie and the whole half striped zebra thing was original but not that great. The thing that saved the movie was the different characters, who were quite funny and definitely great for the kids. The director tried to mix up the humour with adult and kiddie jokes but the animation wasn't that great. It won't go down as a classic but the journey of Khumba does have a hidden moral to the story which is sweat and enjoyable for the whole family. Average!

Round-Up: Some of the voices throughout the movie are very recognisable and they were a great choice for some of the animals. From Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishbourne and Steve Buscemi, they were a great addition to the cast, but it movie lacked proper humour like the Lego Movie or The Incredibles. I appreciate the attention to detail of some of the scenes, but the animals looked very basic, along with some of the backdrops but that's just me being picky. Anyway, it's great fun if your watching it with the family, but for an adult, the jokes weren't that great. 

Budget: $20million Worldwide Gross: $11.6million

I recommend this movie to people who are into there animated movies about a half striped zebra looking for magic water so he can get stripes to cover the rest of his body. 4/10

If you liked the jungle you'll enjoy this one as well.I was surprised by the plot and the characters.ANd best of all voiced by Hollywood veterans.Imagine Liam Neeson as a carnivorous tiger.

I have to admit that the art is good enough for my eyes to take in; not remarkable but decent

But the writing, ho boy, it's sub-standard. There is very little character development and all of the characters are so bland, two-dimensional and a lot of the yimes, even sterotypical. There is little reason for the yak and ostrich to even be in the movie, i feel like they were just there for more meaningless dialogue. I can't feel for the characters, because there was little reason to care about them in the first place

The movie failed to find its own voice, the morale of the story and the story's messages felt ripped off from Disney.

The jokes and humor were alright though. Sure, they may seem to stumble sometimes but at least they didn't fall flat. The voice acting was decent too.

Why i gave it such a bad rating is this: if a movie cannot tell me a good story and characters that I'm interested enough in, it's a waste of time. To me, good art and voiceacting cannot compenstate a bad movie script

We stumble across this movie, and were pleasantly surprised. It's cute, funny, and easy movie to watch - it's not going to wow are you with A complicated plot , but this is not the genre for that. Not every movie has to be a masterpiece. There's nothing wrong with something that's just entertaining. This movie is entertaining, with some really impressive animation and visuals.

This would have gotten 10 stars, but i had to rate it a 7 star because in the beginning Khumba the zebra said the word 'ass'. My 9 year old daughter and 3 year old son both looked at me when they heard the zebra cuss. For a kids movie i do not believe even the word 'ass' is acceptable. I couldn't believe the producers even thought it was OK. It was not used in the context of meaning donkey (if so it still wouldn't be right), it was in the context of calling another individual an ass, which is not showing any child good manner and being polite. Besides the cuss word this was a very cute and enjoyable movie. I did purchase this movie as it does show a good meaning of being different is OK.

An excellent movie for children. Best of Kumbha is that unlike other children's films, has a nice positive message against discrimination and transmitted to children important values.

The movie is entertaining, is not boring and has very funny parts, the kids really enjoy seeing it.

The film is suitable for children, unlike other films like 'UP' or 'Monsters.SA', you will not find adult humor hidden or double meanings, everything is exclusively aimed at children.

Note that it is not a blockbuster like Disney or Pixar studios, since the quality of the 3D animation is not as good as these, the 3d has good quality.

Perhaps not 10, but yet more than 7. Somebody else here wanted to rate it 10, but gave it a 7 because at the beginning of the movie the word "ass" was used in front of his younger children. My god, really? Yes, it not nice when you would have a movie with people cursing from the beginning to the end. No for children. But this? Really?

If my children, when they were wrong, heard such a word, I explained it to them. Letting them have their own conclusions, finally. But, by the way, ass is a part of the body. They should learn where that belongs, isn't it?

When there is shooting and killing, or raping, or abusing people, physically or mentally, wouldn't that be MORE a movie to disapprove for children to watch?

THIS FILM IS AN AMAZING FILM, IT WAS MY CHILDHOOD FILM AND WAS MADE IN THE COUNTRY I LIVE, SA. PEOPLE MY SAY IT'S A KNOCK OFF OF MADAGASCAR, BUT ITS NOT. IT HAS A VERY IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON FOR KIDS, THAT YOU ARE PERFECT THE WAY YOU ARE. 10/10.

Being different is difficult , just like life wasn't ment to be easy... it was ment to be fun &fun isn't always easy to achieve, but is satisfying 💘

My daughter totally loved this movie!!! I found it beautiful and of a really high standard. It took me right into my memories of the Karoo- I could smell, hear and feel it, as I watched. AWESOME story, characters and AND animation, great job!! It was also seriously very funny, there were moments when I cried with laughter and then had tears in heartfelt moments. The voices were so well cast!!! I loved the blend of accents, the blend of cultures.. a TRUE Rainbow film, but not just for South Africa.. it is a film EVERYONE will love.

Congrats.. and Kudos to the ENTIRE team and all their partners etc.

I happily give this movie a 9 - it is a big winner for me, from a small studio...LOVE it!

I hate animations more than most people. Here is why:

• Stereotypical characters: Handsome hunk, extroverted (and slightly crazy) sidekicks, damsels in distress, evil villains wanting world domination. - Predictable plot lines: Become king/queen, find true love.

Of all these (seemingly inescapable) plot lines, Khumba dwindled on the stereotypical. Yet, it IS different. Despite racial stereotyping (wise African woman, rugby-playing Afrikaners *snicker*, courageous Irish/Scots) the characters are strangely bland at times. Despite the fair voice-acting, Kumba will not be remembered for its characters. Many inside jokes will only be understand by South Africans. Even though the sound effects are fair, the soundtrack is not strong enough to stand on it's own.

Khumba is aimed at a mature audience. Jokes are seasoned sparingly maintaining a good balance. An original plot line combined with toned- down stock characters maintain interest in the movie throughout. Gorgeous animation and attention to detail is nothing short of breathtaking at times.

I have to admit: the SA film-industry cannot compete against Hollywood and the rest of the world. Popular SA films are often tasteless with a low-budget. Khumba had financial support from the government raising the budget (and thankfully the standard as well). Judging from the trailer I expected good graphics, but I did not expect a great movie. Khumba is a worthy watch on par with international competition. It fully deserved a good rating: 8/10.

An elaborate, compelling and exotic variation on the ugly duckling tale. Khumba, a young zebra, becomes an outcast because he lacks stripes on part of his hide. Some in the zebra community call him "half a zebra" and blame him for a drought and their bad luck. Despite a love interest questioning Khumba why he cares so much about what the others think, he leaves her, the community and his family in search of a magic water hole that might change his fortunes. In doing so, Khumba puts himself in the path of Phango, a leopard that feeds on heartbeats and fear as much as the carcasses he consumes. Also a misfit, Phango was banished by the other leopards due to blindness in one eye. Phango learns to rely on other senses besides sight to survive, yet believes that having everyone live in fear of him changes who he is and for the better. Khumba trusts and assists other animals to find his way through the desert. A hopeless case when he started out, Khumba learns that things do change for the better, but not always as expected. A beautifully animated film with colorful sunsets, glowing eyes, waterfalls, moonlight and desert mountains. The personalities of the animals are diverse, humorous and intriguing, despite frequent references to rugby and soccer that many kids outside South Africa might not get. Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Liam Neeson join a chorus of other charming and talented personalities who provide their voices to the wildlife.