Mavka: The Forest Song

To start, I want to say that I'm from outside of the Ukraine, I know nothing about it or its culture, and I have no children. So I'm purely reviewing this with an outsiders perspective, compared with many of the other reviews so far.

Funnily enough, I found out about this movie just from seeing the poster. I LOVE all things nature and green, so I looked up the trailer, and it reminded me a lot of my favourite Disney movie 'Tangled' in many ways. So I decided to watch it. I knew nothing of the story or culture it was based on. I just thought 'Forest theme = Yes' and 'Tangled Vibes = Yes'. And I have to say, I really loved this movie.

It's not perfect by any means. There were a few moments I felt were a bit childish, but... It's a kids movie so I can't really fault it for that. Some of the dialogue is a bit clunky, and the editing and placement of scenes sometimes doesn't quite fit. The story is quite thin too. Also, the animation isn't going to be as good as that from the major studios, as its a low budget movie.

And yet, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie: Everything about it. I enjoyed the humorous moments, the weird and over the top characters. The scenery was GORGEOUS, and I just couldn't help but have a smile on my face a lot of the time. The music was beautiful. And I LOVED the design of Mavka. Considering this wasn't a big budget movie, the animation was incredible too.

I think there's a few things mentioned above that should go against it, but they don't. Because it's just too darn charming. I love this movie and I'd definitely watch it again.

I am very very happy it's finally available to see. More than 7 years of work by animagrad is huge time and financial investment

It's amazing cartoon for babies.

However, by being adult and knowing the book, I have been expected more dynamics, much more energy, and main heroes appearance in absolutely different way, same as behavior, moves and of course different dramatic ending.

Book by Lesya Ukrainka is incredible rich and emotional, and unfortunately I could not feel anything even close related to the book, it s just a new cartoon that is good but about different mavka and different story.

But I think that it is also big success. Thank you for film! Hope for a new ones soon by animagrad and ukrainian animators. The more products will be done, more experience will bring better results..

As a Ukrainian, I have seen many bad films and cartoons, and it was hard for me to leave the cinema every time after watching some bs. It was like that every time. Till this moment.

Beautiful. Funny. Positive. Instructive.

That's all about this cartoon.

This is a very very Ukrainian cartoon based on the work of a Ukrainian writer, and it is amazing to see the culture of your country in such a high-quality film.

I was amazed that in Ukraine they were able to create such a masterpiece. Really. Without such budgets as in Disney, without such specialists, but it is clear that it is made with soul. And even with the smaller capabilities, it still looks great.

You can learn something about the culture of Ukraine, and if you don't care about that - you'll just have a good time with a very... unusual but good cartoon. Even if you are 3 years old, even if you are 33.

It's been said the film industry seems to be running out of original ideas. I now also believe they are running out of ideas for original animated films AND characters. I've seen several animated movies the past two years that felt a bit stale. Although still a beautiful film with incredible animation, 'Mavka: The Forest Song' unfortunately is one of those that did not have that 'fresh' feeling to it.

Many years ago a sawmill owner from a village went into the Dark Forest looking for a cure for his sick young daughter. The Forest Guardian gave him a drop from the Tree of Life. After his daughter was cured, the owner - along with several villagers - went looking for more, resulting in a battle between the Forest Dwellers and the villagers. The Guardian then banned humans from the forest.

Enter Mavka. She is a nymph - a beautiful, sweet girl with a kind heart, who brings the forest to life at the start of Spring. Enter Kylina. She is the sawmill owner's daughter, and now the film's antagonist who wants to find the Tree of Life for herself. She offers riches to the villagers for going into the Dark Forest, but they are unwilling. Only one man, Lucas - an aspiring musician who needs money for medicine to save his sick uncle Leo - is willing to go.

And so he embarks on a journey into the forest, where he soon meets Mavka. As predicted, romance was sure to blossom for these two characters. As I mentioned, this is a beautiful film with an interesting enough premise - only, none of the characters felt original. I recognized characters from so many other animated films like Snow White, Tangled, Rise of the Guardians, Tinker Bell, and events from live action films like Australia, Twister, Lord of the Rings, to name just a few. And don't tell me that scene where the forest dwellers gather under their sacred Tree of Life doesn't look like an exact replica of a similar scene from Avatar! How many films did you recognize in 'Mavka'?

The film features good humour, and then also very cartoonish humour, and thus dividing the audience between a young and mature demographic. While this is a film young and old can enjoy, adults will most likely deem many of the scenes more suited for kids.

Having said that - and it does sound like I'm criticizing the movie, doesn't it? - this was still worth the watch. It certainly was better than some of the other animated offerings as of late. Its still the kind of movie that will bring parents and kids together for a fun movie night experience.

Watched this cartoon in the cinema in Odesa. The impressions are great, beautiful graphics, a wonderful story based on ukrainian legends, cool songs. I really liked how the cartoon characters were drawn, the characters are very beautiful, the scenery is mesmerizing, the nature is incredible! Very funny jokes, several times we couldn't hold back and laughed for the whole hall. It's nice to hear the voices of ukrainian stars. In a word, my daughter was impressed! I recommend watch this cartoon, if you want to have a good time with your child, get aesthetic pleasure and touch to ukrainian legends and folklore.