Mia And The Migoo

When Mia’s father, who is an immigrant worker employed far off, has an accident on the worksite, Mia awakens from a dream fearing the worst. It’s then she decides to brave the long journey to her father which includes scaling a high mountain range, traversing a long winding river, and dealing with putting her faith in some baubles she’s taken from her mother’s grave that she won’t be eaten by the wild animals along the way.

Fortunately Mia encounters a group of forest spirits that call themselves the Migoo, protectors of the Tree Of Life, who decide to help Mia reach her destination and find her father. Unfortunately she crosses paths with the greedy developer who runs the worksite where her father was employed. He’s selfish and greedy and only cares about money, not his son who he’s been forced to take along for the ride. To prove it the developer wages a war on nature, literally. Can Mia and the Migoo stop the developer from destroying the beautiful landscape where the Tree of Life resides and while doing so find Mia’s father? Check it out to find out.

First off, Mia and the Migoo is a beautiful looking film comprised of over 500,000 hand painted frames of animation. Everything looks so fluid and alive and color is amazingly rich detailing every aspect of the picture. Rivers reminded me of Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night, the city life reminded me of the lush color scheme of Curious George, and the characters and vehicles come to life in a very smooth and fantastic way. It’s simply amazing considering the technique and how well the animation pulls it off.

Story wise I couldn’t help but think of Miyazaki’s work. It doesn’t hurt the film but you might get hung up on the fact if you think about it too hard. A little girl in search of a parental figure goes on a perilous adventure that teams her with an ancient spirit. There is also the environmental theme of innocence versus corporate greed. While I did enjoy this traditional match up the film does get a bit dark and the villain of the piece is akin to say Armand Assante’s Tzekel-Kan in The Road to El Dorado or Gay Oldman’s Ruber in Quest For Camelot. The character is just larger then life, has a bombastic voice, and does not shy away from causing harm to anything or anyone. He may be a bit too much for the youngest in the crowd.

Still, as a basic adventure film for kids Mia and the Migoo has a lot to offer. Humor, peril, fun characters and a good environmental message for the kids. The film can be heartwarming and suspenseful, which helps to move you along quite nicely. Most of all though the film is just a pleasure to look at. As always, final judgment is yours. Enjoy.