6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful animation, wonderfull story, wonderfull everything, July 15, 2007
This review is from: Hugo: The Movie Star (DVD)
Most americans have probably not heard of this one. But here in Scandinavia it was quite famous back in it's day and is one of my childhood favourites.
The story is about the rare, one of a kind jungle animal Hugo who is kidnapped by a greedy director who wants to make money of him by using him in his new film. Hugo meets the fox Rita from the previous film and they try to escape from the evildoers.
The animation is wonderful here. The two main characters Hugo and Rita are cute and funny as the villain is cold-hearted and greedy. The songs and music are very nice and well composed as well. Particularly the saxophone tune during the beginning of the film.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
So why did you Censor this film, August 14, 2008
This review is from: Hugo: The Movie Star (DVD)
This is the english release fo Hugo the movie star.
Do yourself a big favor and don't buy it.
The english voice acting is horrable, and the stars of the film
spend endless min's making squeaking and beeping sounds.
Most of all one of the best acted parts in the original animation
is compleatly cut out of the US relase. Thanks for nothing.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Hardly A Star, February 16, 2008
This review is from: Hugo: The Movie Star (DVD)
Denmark is not a nation known for its animation, yet if it has anything to bring the table of cartoons, it's "Jungledyret": the creative opus of Flemming Quist Møller about an adorable jungle ape named Hugo and his adventures in 20th century Copenhagen. Having since become a franchise, the first two films were venerated in Denmark for their quality and musical numbers, and competed with Disney features inside of the country at the times of their release.
However, I'm sorry to say that while the movies might have been great in their original forms, the Miramax-released DVD double-feature leaves much to be desired: from the recutting of the films, to the disappointing voicework, and to the total lack of special features, this is one package that could've been much better.
The two films - "Hugo the Movie Star" and its sequel "Go Hugo Go!" - feature the same general storyline: Hugo is the cutest animal in the jungle, and is therefore kidnapped and taken to the city to be the star of a movie shot by the evil Cupmann studio; however, he manages to escape with the aid of the streetwise fox Rita, and over the course of their adventures, the two grow increasingly fond of eachother.
Both films are basically tit-for-tat in their ups and downs: 1) animated animals are of admirable quality, yet human characters are exceedingly wonky; 2) songs like "Skateboard" and "In This Jungle" won't necessarily get on your nerves, but numbers like "Everybody Sing" will do the trick; 3) while Bronson Pinchot ("Perfect Strangers") as Hugo and Holly Frankel as Rita are decent in their voice-acting, Marcel Jeannin as Meatball Charlie and Jennifer Seguin as Barbie Turner are overdone and atrocious.
The films have a stripped, slapdash feel to them: the redubbed songs all generally sound so-so, the translation and lip-synching is noticeably off in some scenes, and instances of re-editing are blatantly obvious to all but the youngest of eyes; an original language track with subtitles would have countered this, but the DVD features neither, nor does it offer a theatrical trailer, commentaries, etc. The imported package seems to have had very little effort put into it, and English-speaking viewers suffer for it.
Eventually, some of the films' original charm can save the pictures from being total disasters, but they remain a far cry from their acclaimed national counterparts. Unless you're a fan of the new CGI film or the TV series, there's no reason to buy this for over $5.
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