Delgo

It's sad. There was so much hope in me that the little guy could stare down the Hollywood gods (in this case Pixar and DreamWorks) and come out a winner. I new going in that this film had problems; no advertising, no studio release backing, many production trials, a relatively expensive cast of voice actors for a venture of this type. Still I had hope.

What I was left with was, oh how glad I am that few will see this film and remember that it was Anne Bancroft's last work. Orson Wells didn't fare as well with his, but his last wasn't as bad. This film had a brief glimmer at the beginning then quickly sank into an abyss of unoriginality, cliché, confusion, too much narration rather than exposition, and too many irritations. The movie felt like a little pebble that gets into your shoe and just irritates the crap out of you until you take off your shoe and dump it out. I haven't had this bad of a time at a movie since "Blindness" and in fairness, "Blindness" was more of a masochistic experience to watch than this.

It all started for me Monday when I was off work, bored and had nothing better to do, so I figured I'd give this underdog a shot. The worst I thought could happen would be that I'd be bored and watching a movie instead of just bored and staring at the walls at home. That's your options when all your friends are at work and you can't bare the drivel of daytime TV.

Anyway, I was worse than bored and watching a movie, but I kept in there, hoping for the little guy to give me something to grab a hold of. Unfortunately it never came. I hoped that this movie could have been something triumphant in the face of adversity. Something that overcame the great odds against it and at least made back the money invested in it. I was looking for some unlikely cinematic surprise like "Facing the Giants" or its kin "Fireproof," but to no avail. Ultimately, I lost an hour and a half and $6.50.

I'll begin head-on with the frequent question: "why have I never heard of this movie?" Because of extraordinarily bad luck and timing. First, it got caught in a corporate reshuffle so it had a wide opening (planned before the reshuffle) but with no marketing publicity. Because of the wide opening it wasn't thought necessary to show it on the festival circuit or at conventions or in a limited release to specialty theaters, and when there was no advertising either the wide opening bombed. The second blow was its story didn't mesh with the zeitgeist, so it never garnered enough interest to build post-release buzz. It's best classified as an "action fairy tale", but when it came out, the fashion in animations was a more psychological and unusual story line (for example Ratatouille or Wall-E), and the "action" space was fully occupied by live action flicks (for example Star Trek). Then the third blow hit with Delgo being overshadowed by Avatar (which presented so many similarities that a lawsuit ensued).

The previous movies it brought to my mind are "Gandahar", "Battle for Terra", and "MirrorMask". The fully imagined, completely separate, alternate world with plants that look like animals and vice versa, the notably pacifistic society, the use of animals rather than machines for air transportation and for war, the psychic remote control of material objects, the conflation of mystical and political power, and the contrast of different technologies are all reminiscent of Rene Laloux's quarter century old "Gandahar" (unfortunately not readily available in North America). The very detailed alternate environment (especially the sky-whales), looming environmental collapse, and flying people are reminiscent of "Battle for Terra". And the incredibly detailed, imaginative, and overblown animations are reminiscent of "MirrorMask". (Delgo doesn't though use MirrorMask's green-screen technique to combine live actors with animation.) Similar to MirrorMask, Delgo does plenty of things right and has lots of flashes of brilliance, but in the end doesn't sufficiently "come together". It will be of interest to specialty audiences, and it will be a favorite of isolated groups of people, but it will probably never have as much mass market appeal as it hoped for. A couple things are common to the animation in all of "Delgo", "Gandahar", "Battle for Terra", and "MirrorMask": most of the animation was done with publicly available tools, and budget was the primary constraint on the animation.

As is common with most animated features, there's a lot of comic relief. Although it's pretty broad (very loud belches, eating flowers, holding the wrong door shut, a dog like creature piddling on the rug, fractured vocabulary that shames Mrs. Malaprop, and so forth) it mostly fits pretty well. The comic relief centering on the character Filo though is so over the top some will find it irritating.

As one would expect from a "fairy tale", morals are fairly obvious. There are a couple skewers directed at the Bush administration ("we must go to war to prevent a war" and "it's much easier to start a war than to stop one"), but they're sufficiently subtle many viewers won't even notice them. The "can't we all just get along" moral though is more pervasive (after all it's the central motif of the whole movie).

The animation is incredibly detailed and imaginative. Techniques like scores of light sources in a scene, moving "cameras", lots and lots of pieces moving simultaneously, clouds of dust, and shimmering foggy auras that produce their own light, are used often. The animators solve particular problems in resourceful and imaginative ways (for example a spider web modeled as a piece of cloth, or a belt that seems to ripple freely yet whose far end can be controlled). This is the first time I've seen a caustic light pattern reflected from an unseen pool of water throw its moving wavy patterns over another object. Yet the overall impression of the animation is "klunky". Why? I think because all the characters are clearly recognizable humanoids, even to the extent that characters are overlaid with the facial features of the corresponding voice actor. Even though the 3D representations are very good (one running scene is so realistic the common reaction is it couldn't have possibly been done just with regular animation tools), they're not good enough to satisfy us viewers who see humanoid forms all the time and so have extremely high standards for them. This isn't an "uncanny valley" problem; the characters aren't quite that realistic. One wishes Delgo had either gone even further (motion capture?) or had backed away a bit to more animalistic and less realistic forms (more like Spig, Spog, and the dog like creature, all of which are very successful).

In summary-- the story: closely adheres to the "action fairy tale" categorization, formulaic; but every so often will entrance someone - the animation: uneven, insufficiently restrained, and sometimes seemingly primitive when it really isn't; but worthy of close scrutiny by aficionados.

I admit the animation was wonderful. The initial use of alien creatures was right on the mark -- special -- creative -- enticing... the voices were amazing throughout, but then there's the pesky need for a good story.

As an author of 11 scripts I noticed the scripted flaws immediately and continuously. The introduction narrative was completely unnecessary and should have been incorporated (if at all) into the movie as it unfolded.

The logic and progression of plot points were very flawed: so much so that I was annoyed that the film turned away from its initial strength 'originality' and fell on the sword of blandness. The reason so many people keep saying this film in plagiarism is simply because it follows such common event sequences you can't help but compare it to many other movies: Camelot (guards attacking the helpful hero), Star Wars (comic relief was the mirror image of a famous Gungan), Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty (hero finds a lost item, evil dragon lady,) and even the Lion King (when you see it you'll understand), etc.

The script was quite frankly pathetic in parts, but also (to be fair) had some moments of honesty. Those moments were presented but then lost when the script failed to follow-up on the logic thread.

So much of the movie is filled with clichés, and the comic relief was really annoying -- not funny -- that I was totally outside the movie and making remarks to myself (OMG, please not that, YGTBKM) instead of flowing along with the action. By the way, I was the only person in the theater. When I asked the ticket person if the movie was worth the price he said, "Opening day sold only 2 tickets." What this story has in beautiful animation and initial originality (the first few minutes) was completely lost to illogic. The amazing creatures were pushed to the background for the most part and the main characters were developed by narrative not action. We were usually told, not shown (or allowed) to feel with the characters. There was no character growth as such, just a jarring thump from one sequence to another as if the characters were puppets on a string.

How sad that what could have been a great adventure turned into trivialities. I would just like to say the burning bush had such possibilities.

I am a huge animation fan, and always have been, and most likely will always be. I always watch any movie to pass my own judgement, and although the trailer was not good at all, that didn't stop me from seeing Delgo online. And overall, while it is not the worst animated film ever or the worst movie ever, I was left unimpressed.

I thought Delgo did have a good concept, to me it sounded as though it was going to be epic and sweeping. Also the backgrounds are quite nice, with beautiful colours.

However, I was not impressed with the character designs which were not only forced and ugly but also bad video-game level. The music is also rather generic with few memorable themes. The dialogue is roundly poor, with the comedy particularly wretched, while the story is predictable, badly paced and very disjointed with some moments of inspiration but other moments of sheer clumsiness and the characters are clichéd, barely likable and I found myself indifferent to every single one of them.

The voice acting on the whole is rather bland, yes even the wonderful Anne Bancroft. Freddie Pinze Jnr especially sounds bored, and Chris Kattan like his character is very obnoxious. So all in all, rather unimpressive and disappointing. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I recall very, very well when this film was released, and its immediate, astonishing failure. I remember just as well all the talk surrounding it, and to read more about the production in hindsight is very revealing. 'Delgo' was incredibly ambitious: an enormous cast of many big-name stars, an ensemble so great that the very list of credits threatened to distract from the content; a more serious, adult-oriented story, developed over a period when its intended medium was still finding its legs; a medium that still now, and even more so in 2008, was seen as belonging squarely in the realm of family-friendly fare - and all this, outside the major studio system of Hollywood that as of yet still held overwhelming sway in the industry. The filmmakers, writers and directors alike, had very lofty goals, matched only by the passion and sincerity with which they pursued the project. With all this in mind: even recognizing the staggeringly poor reception and reputation, how can one not be curious, and want to check out the feature for themselves? The skill and care of all involved is plain as day, and I admire the effort. I can honestly say, too, that I actually do like this. However, I also see why, even setting aside problems of marketing, the title was a memorable misfire.

The animation sits somewhere between the level of 'Toy Story' or 'Shrek,' on par with the best of what digital artists could generally whip up in the 2000s, and still earlier attempts at computer animation - the sort we may have seen in the mid-90s with forward-thinking kids' TV shows. The designs of the world of the movie, and all within it, are mostly fantastic: the wardrobe, weapons and armor, creatures, landscapes and dwellings, and so on. I'm a little bit divided on the appearance of the Lokni and Nohrin, simply on account of the "uncanny valley" effect, but even these two predominant races I appreciate more than not. Some environments and materials are very noticeably rendered with more detail or texture than others, but so it goes. One way or another, no matter how cynical one wishes to be, the animators did good work, certainly including action sequences. In much the same way, I think 'Delgo' is very well made from the standpoint of any technical considerations, or conventional "behind the scenes" work: direction, cinematography, editing, sound design, and so on. I like the sound effects, and the fundamental quality of the audiovisual presentation is swell. Geoff Zanelli's score is pretty fun.

Beyond the bedazzlement that follows from observing the actors assembled for the voice cast, I think each makes fine contributions, with some standing out more than others. Chris Kattan's shrill timbre and wild exclamations as spirited supporting character Filo are surely some of the top highlights of the film; much the same is true of Eric Idle as henchman Spig, though he's less prominent. For the time that she has, Anne Bancroft clearly was living up the opportunity to voice wicked villain Sedessa. All this is well and good - there's much to enjoy in 'Delgo.'

Where the feature is an especially mixed bag is in the writing. Some dialogue is too simple, communicating ideas in the language of a younger audience, while at large it could have just benefited from more development, and maybe another set of eyes (or ears) or two for perspective. Characters are okay I suppose, though nothing remarkable, and no few simply inhabit archetypal roles for an epic saga. The scene writing is perhaps one of the more definitively solid aspects here, filled with variety: lighthearted humor, adventure of lighter or darker tones, action, outright war, and more pointedly dramatic facets, all within a tale of grandiose fantasy. In turn, scenes successfully inculcate feelings of awe, majesty, excitement, and even inspire some small laughter. And that brings us to the narrative. It's not that there's anything specifically wrong with the story. It's compelling, if familiar, and a firm foundation for genre fare. Moreover, it plays with lots of Big Ideas as themes and beats that have served many a similar saga well. War, prejudice (and overcoming it), thirst for blood and power, corruption, ambition, finding courage, manipulation, distrust, histories of disagreement and conflict, making peace with the past and resolving long-standing enmities: all this, and more. It's a lot to weave into a very concise length of film, in addition to character moments, comedy, major action, and sufficient establishment of the realities of a fictional world no one has ever seen before. I think the filmmakers mostly do just fine in bringing it all together. Only - it feels, in this case, as though everything 'Delgo' tries to say, do, and be fits together inelegantly, squeezed into a ninety-minute runtime so as to become overfull. The treatment each notion should get is thereby reduced, subsequently diminishing the impact that it all could ideally have - and, ultimately, viewer engagement. As if to emphasize the point, the ending feels unexpectedly abrupt, and not at all satisfying as a result.

It's very noteworthy that those who wrote and directed this have not apparently made anything else since. I can't help but be sad at that - they poured so much heart and energy into this title, and heartfelt earnestness, and what they got in return was, well, a HUGE loss. What strikes me is that in addition to not very successfully advertising to its audience, the movie wasn't altogether clear on who it wanted its audience to be. It's a kids' movie more than not, but it even with humor peppered throughout it couldn't be called a comedy in the same way that 'Finding Nemo' or most any other animated picture. Its Big Ideas aren't so adult-oriented as to exclude younger viewers, but even with somewhat gawky dialogue I'm unsure if the material is simple enough to hold appeal or interest for children. Add in the difficulties of the storytelling in truly giving form to everything that it desired, and it's not particularly any wonder why 'Delgo' was released to deafening silence. To repeat: I do actually kind of like this. I don't think it's bad; above all, it's nowhere near as bad as its infamy portends. The hard work that went into it is clear, and appreciable. It's just so very unfortunate that the whole couldn't quite find its voice in any capacity, as for such lack all that labor was for nothing. I wish nothing but the best for Marc Adler, Jason Maurer, Scott Biear, Patrick Cowan, Carl Dream, Jennifer Jones, and everyone else who had a hand in the feature's creation. I hope they all have found success and happiness elsewhere. It's regrettable that the the chips fell in such a way that they couldn't find it with 'Delgo.'