When I was a kid growing up it seemed the world was always telling us not to be different, but instead to be like so-and-so . If you embraced your “different” you would often end up an outcast and a loaner, the kid everyone would call the “weird one”. It seems that as time has gone by there has been a change in the wind, one that says you should fly your freak flag and shun the need to be like everyone else. I for one like this way much better, because even though I always fit in, I knew as a kid I was much more than I got to show.
In a world where perfection is the only thing, the dolls who don’t reach that standard are sent to a place where they will never be heard from again. Luckily for them it wasn’t the intended incinerator, but instead UglyVille , a place where all the imperfect dolls can live. While everyone enjoys their existence, Moxy (Kelly Clarkson) knows there is a world out there bigger than Uglyville and she is determined to get there. Every day she wakes up believing today is the day, but on this day she is right, well sort of. She convinces Ugly Dog (Pitbull) Babo (Gabriel Iglesias), Lucky Bat (Leehom Wang), and Wage (Wanda Sykes) to take a chance and to explore a flower that all the new residents drop out of. Once there, they follow a tunnel, where they come to a place too perfect for words and where the dolls have to reach a super high standard to make it to the “big” world. These perfect dolls are led by Lou (Nick Jonas) who passes judgement on every doll in his care, and when he comes upon Moxy and her crew, he decides to take amunsment in their faults. Moxy though is full of, you guessed it, moxy and her determination to get to the “big” world might be enough to get past Lou and his wicked ways.
Born from the plush toy world and created by David Hovath and Sun-min Kim the world of UglyDolls world is was huge. Before the film has even come out, Hulu has ordered a 26 episode TV series to go along with the movie, I only hope it’s better than the big screen version. While the point of the story and its message is positive, the delivery doesn’t convey that same intent and comes off rather dull and pandering. Most animated movies have big names in their cast, the names that voice the characters in this world feel more like the first two or three choices said ‘no’, and well this was who they had to choose from. Sure there are some cute moments, and you might even laugh a time or two, but for a film under an hour and a half, it was pretty hard to get through. The good thing though, is kids will love it if they love the dolls to begin with, and you hope the message even not delivered very well, still gets through to them. What I got out of watching UglyDolls is that you don’t have to be Pixar perfect, but sometimes there is no getting past something this ugly.
