In the magical world of Ferngully, Crysta is a fairy whose worst problem is that, like many students, she can't keep her mind on her lessons - she is being taught the magic of nature by Magi Lune, a powerful and ancient fairy - and would rather be out having fun with her boyfriend Pips, or listening to "human tales". She's fascinated with these stories, about the humans that the fairies believe are extinct. Crysta's life changes drastically, however, when two things happen: first, a laboratory bat, Batty Koda, crash lands in Ferngully and tells everyone that humans do exist, and second, Crysta accidentally goes above the canopy of the forest and sees smoke for the first time.
When Crysta dares to investigate the smoke, she discovers humans are in the forest. She rescues one, Zak, from a falling tree by inadvertently shrinking him to fairy size. Zak has some trouble adjusting to being 4" tall and in a natural world where he is almost eaten by a lizard, among other things, but he befriends the fairies and falls in love with Crysta, and through her learns how alive the forest is.
However, this idyllic life is about to end. The humans have a machine called The Leveler, capable of swiftly turning whole forests into boards and sawdust. Thanks in part to Zak's mistake, The Leveler releases Hexxus, a malign being who thrives on the poisons of pollution. Long ago Hexxus almost destroyed Ferngully, but he was trapped in a tree by the power of Magi Lune and the forest - until the humans let him out, that is. Now that he is free and made powerful by taking over The Leveler, he once more plans to destroy Ferngully, and it takes Magi's legacy, plus all of Crysta's courage and power, and the help of Zak, Batty, Pips, and all the fairies working as one with her, to stop Hexxus, imprison him again, and save Ferngully.
This movie is unabashedly an environmental message - in fact, the proceeds were given to The Smithsonian Institution for projects benefiting the world's environment. The intense, gorgeously colored, growing beauty of the fairies' world is starkly contrasted with the humans' square, monochromatic objects, their litter, and the wasteland they leave in their path. Yet this bias, so blatant as to almost be funny, never quite feels wrong. This is primarily due to the art work - the backgrounds are so beautiful, you forget the message in the glory of Crysta's world. It is also helped by the characters, who are likeable, and especially the villain, Hexxus, who makes evil look fun. The background art of Ferngully is amazing, and if the animation falls a little short of excellence, it is still good. The characters are not well developed, but you can't help enjoying them anyway. The songs are forgettable, although two are helped by the delicious performances of Tim Curry and Tone Loc.
Still, with all its flaws, Ferngully is a better than average animated film, gorgeously done, entertaining, exciting, often great fun, and sometimes reaching awe-inspiring heights of wonder and joy.
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Main Characters:
Crysta (voice:
Samantha Mathis)
Crysta is a magically talented but young and irresponsible fairy who is called
upon to mature and to save her world.
Zak
Young (voice: Jonathan Ward)
A human who gets shrunk to fairy size, Zak learns a hard lesson about the
world and his place in it.
Hexxus (voice:
Tim Curry)
A being who thrives on poisons, Hexxus' only desires are for power and to
destroy the rainforest.
Batty
Koda (voice: Robin Williams)
An escapee from a human lab, Batty is often wackily confused, but he's
a brave little guy with a good heart.
Other Characters:
Pips (voice:
Christian Slater)
Crysta's boyfriend until Zak comes along, Pips is a strong young fairy who
has to get past his jealousy.
Magi
Lune (voice: Grace Zabriskie)
An ancient and powerful fairy, Magi sealed Hexxus away long ago, and now
is Crysta's teacher.
Ralph
and Tony (voices: Geoffrey Blake and Robert Pastorelli)
These are the lumberjacks who operate The Leveler and were Zak's supervisors.
Goanna (voice:
Tone Loc)
The only rainforest creature who got his own song, Goanna simply wanted to
make a meal of Zak.
Technical Credits:
Directed by Bill Kroyer
Written by Jim Cox, based on the story by Diana Young
Original score by Alan Silvestri
Favorite images:
I chose these images to show some of the characters and plot,
but many are just to illustrate the lovely world
that the artists created in
Ferngully.
~ Kat
For more images, see the gallery!