The Hero of Color City

As a parent who has had to sit through a lot of children's programming over the years, I really liked this little movie. The premise is cute, and there's a few jokes aimed at the parents in there. It's not so teeth-rottingly sweet as to be nauseating to Mom and Dad, the music is catchy, and the children's drawings come to life is an interesting concept that's not overdone. I've found myself asking my two year old if he'd like to watch the crayon movie again! The voice actor's list has some of my favorites on it including Sean Astin (from Goonies and The Lord Of The Rings) who I would never have pegged, although I knew it was familiar and I actually came to IMDb to see who the voice actor is. It also stars Owen Wilson and Christina Ricci, Craig Ferguson and Wayne Brady. Put the movie on for your kiddos- mine love it!

My three and four (now five) year olds LOVE this movie. It's terrific for little ones, and I prefer this to many more popular and money making films that cast a wider net that targets a broader age spectrum but also exposes little ones to more fearful subjects and tidal waves of verbage that they don't understand...and vocabulary/behaviors that I don't want them to imitate. I was surprised to read that this is the all-time lowest grossing animated feature film, but there you go. We watch it on Netflix.

This film tells the story of a young crayon who is often afraid. She is chased by a monster into Color City, and havoc ensues. She unwillingly enters an adventure that demonstrates her true skills and positive qualities, and along with other crayons, they become courageous heroes of Color City.

"The Hero of Color City" is cheerfully coloured with the brightest colours on the palette. The story is aimed at young children, and it provides a not so scary adventure for young children. It also tells a nice tale of not being afraid. I find the story empowering, and it can even serve as a role model for children who are afraid for whatever reasons. No one is too little to achieve great things!

The animation is ok, but the acting and storytelling is drier than Egypt in a drought. Everything is so stretched out and longer than it should be. And the stereotypes-red is sassy, yellow is a coward, blue is chill, white feels useless, black is depressed, and green is...obsessive-compulsive? Either way, the acting is really quiet and boring.

This movie deserved to do better than it did. It is colourful, charming and touching. A must- watch for kids and kids at heart. It is great for keeping kids entertained without making parents want to join the circus. I may not recommend it to a two-year old, but it would be good for a six. With all the awful Saturday Disney around I can't see why this movie did so poorly