As said many times, love animation to bits (some of my all-time favourite films are animated) and always try to be kind to any film regardless of its quality when it's deserving of that. Am not going to lie and say that every animated film (or animation in general) is great, there are some terrible animated films out there.
'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' is one of the biggest examples of terrible animation, despite being a generous and perceptive reviewer it is very difficult to be subjective and kind when talking about one of the biggest wastes of time ever encountered. Always look for redeeming qualities to bad or less films, 'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' has nothing to recommend it and children and adults alike will struggle to get any enjoyment out of it. Its least bad component is the animation of the water, the one animation detail that has any attention to detail but it looks only okay, never rising above that.
It is frankly wasted by the animation in every other regard and throughout the entire film being so atrocious that it makes one feel physically ill looking at it. The colours are flat and lack any vibrancy or vividness, very little attention is paid to little things let alone bigger effects, the backgrounds are sparse, lack fluidity and never allows one to get immersed into a potentially magical world and it has the single most ugliest and stiffest character animation for dolphins (especially bad for a film full of robotic and ugly character designs for every character) for any animated film set under the sea.
Music is frequently discordant, never fits and is likely to give younger audiences nightmares just hearing it. The script is awkward and muddled, with a lot of parts being over-explanatory, some parts being too complicated for younger viewers to properly understand it and a lot of other parts are incredibly juvenile that are so childish and unfunny to intelligence-insulting degrees. The story is never engaging or worth investing in emotionally, with far too much aimless exposition and a lot of stretched out scenes that go on for too long and go absolutely nowhere. Even adolescents and adults will find it difficult to comprehend what's going on.
Furthermore, 'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' is one of the worst examples of target audience issues in a family film, with nothing for children and adults and with elements that will alienate people of all ages. There is a real sense that 'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' had no idea who it was aiming for and what it wanted to be. Adults will be insulted by the excessiveness and childishness of the often pointless potty humour while children will find the darker scenes constantly interjected with abrupt and jarring tonal shifts far too frightening and out of place. Pacing is all over the place dull.
Characters are either annoying or deprived of personality, with a protagonist so devoid of endearing personality or development and full of aimless motivations and illogical decision making that he's impossible to root for, and not in a long time has there been more unintentionally creepy voice acting.
In conclusion, undersea animation at its most amateurish (yes more so than 'Izzy's Way Home' and 'The Reef'), dullest and most nightmarish. 1/10 for the okay at best animation of the water only. Bethany Cox
'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' is one of the biggest examples of terrible animation, despite being a generous and perceptive reviewer it is very difficult to be subjective and kind when talking about one of the biggest wastes of time ever encountered. Always look for redeeming qualities to bad or less films, 'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' has nothing to recommend it and children and adults alike will struggle to get any enjoyment out of it. Its least bad component is the animation of the water, the one animation detail that has any attention to detail but it looks only okay, never rising above that.
It is frankly wasted by the animation in every other regard and throughout the entire film being so atrocious that it makes one feel physically ill looking at it. The colours are flat and lack any vibrancy or vividness, very little attention is paid to little things let alone bigger effects, the backgrounds are sparse, lack fluidity and never allows one to get immersed into a potentially magical world and it has the single most ugliest and stiffest character animation for dolphins (especially bad for a film full of robotic and ugly character designs for every character) for any animated film set under the sea.
Music is frequently discordant, never fits and is likely to give younger audiences nightmares just hearing it. The script is awkward and muddled, with a lot of parts being over-explanatory, some parts being too complicated for younger viewers to properly understand it and a lot of other parts are incredibly juvenile that are so childish and unfunny to intelligence-insulting degrees. The story is never engaging or worth investing in emotionally, with far too much aimless exposition and a lot of stretched out scenes that go on for too long and go absolutely nowhere. Even adolescents and adults will find it difficult to comprehend what's going on.
Furthermore, 'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' is one of the worst examples of target audience issues in a family film, with nothing for children and adults and with elements that will alienate people of all ages. There is a real sense that 'The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer' had no idea who it was aiming for and what it wanted to be. Adults will be insulted by the excessiveness and childishness of the often pointless potty humour while children will find the darker scenes constantly interjected with abrupt and jarring tonal shifts far too frightening and out of place. Pacing is all over the place dull.
Characters are either annoying or deprived of personality, with a protagonist so devoid of endearing personality or development and full of aimless motivations and illogical decision making that he's impossible to root for, and not in a long time has there been more unintentionally creepy voice acting.
In conclusion, undersea animation at its most amateurish (yes more so than 'Izzy's Way Home' and 'The Reef'), dullest and most nightmarish. 1/10 for the okay at best animation of the water only. Bethany Cox