‘The Wild Robot’
It’s rare for my son to watch an entire movie without getting up to kick a soccer ball around or rummage for a snack, but he watched this Oscar-nominated adventure from DreamWorks Animation in awed silence. And then he watched it again.
Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, a brainy robot that gets stranded on an island ruled not by technology, but by nature. Roz finds an orphaned baby gosling named Brightbill (Kit Connor), and because Brightbill can’t yet fly and is surrounded by predators, Roz cares for him. Along the way, Roz bonds with a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), a grizzly named Thorn (Mark Hamill) and an Opossum called Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara). But it’s the love between Roz and Brightbill that really tugs the heartstrings.
The director and screenwriter Chris Sanders (“The Croods,” “How To Train Your Dragon”) combines gorgeous visuals with an emotional story line that may have you and your little ones a little weepy by the end. The film is based on the first book in Peter Brown’s “Wild Robot” book series, and there’s a sequel in development.
‘Wish Dragon’
Din (Jimmy Wong), who is called “peasant boy” as a taunt, and Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) become best friends in elementary school, but their dreams of growing up together are thwarted when Li Na moves away with her wealthy father. Cut to Din graduating from college, and he’s still pining for his long-lost friend, whose face he sees all over giant billboards in Shanghai because she’s now a model. Luckily for Din, a pink and purple dragon named Long (voiced by John Cho) pops out of a green teapot in a puff of glittery smoke one night to grant Din three wishes. His number one wish is to be reunited with Li Na.
Yes, the vibes are definitely “Aladdin” meets “Raya and the Last Dragon,” but the story and animation here are captivating, and the message about money not being the end-all-be-all is a good one. Constance Wu voices Long’s mother. Chris Appelhans wrote the script and directed.
‘Curious Case of Dolphin Bay’
This tween mystery directed by Christine Luby (“This Little Love of Mine”) is the kind of movie I would have been obsessed when I was younger. There are friendships, ghosts, buried treasure, Ouija boards, beautiful beaches and cute boys to crush on. What’s not to love?
For a summer internship, 15-year-old Quinn (Izabela Rose) travels to Australia, where she’s reunited with her best friend, Daniella (Ella Proberts). Daniella left the United States with her father, a marine biologist who is studying reefs, and Quinn soon realizes that Daniella has a new life, complete with new friends. Quinn bonds with a fellow intern named Teddy (Jayden McGinlay), and they discover a local legend and embark on a treasure hunt to unlock the secrets of the island.
Young teenagers will relate to Quinn’s heartbreak as she sees Daniella grow closer to a new best friend, but the girls put aside their jealousies and come together when they catch a bad guy trying to get rich off the reef. It’s a perfect easy watch for those easing into summer.
‘Boonie Bears: Back to Earth’
Stream it on Hulu.
Yet another spinoff of the long-running Chinese children’s show “Boonie Bears,” this iteration starts with the dopey bear Bramble (Joseph S. Lambert in English) discovering an alien cube that had crash-landed on Pine Tree Mountain. A mysterious feline alien with green eyes named Avi (Sara Secora) downloads some high-tech info into Bramble’s brain and forces Bramble to help find Avi’s lost spacecraft. There’s also Mr. and Mrs. Cruz (Christopher Price and Olivia Seaton-Hill), a dangerous married couple who want evil machines called Quasars to walk the earth once more. Characters here that will be familiar to fans of the series include Bramble’s brother, Briar (Kieran Katarey), and his buddy Vick (Paul “Maxx” Rinehart).
There’s plenty of action and some funny visual gags to keep younger kids entertained, like Bramble dressed in a white dress and pearls. The director Lin Huida as well as the writers Lin Jiang, Wan Qin, and Rachel Xu have all worked on the TV series and on some of the “Boonie Bears” films.
‘Moonbound’
Peter and Anne (Aleks Le and Jolie Handler) are siblings just getting used to their home in a new town when they meet a talking beetle named Mr. Zoomzeman (Howard Nightingall) who wants to bring his long-lost wife back from the lair of the evil Moonman (Drew Sarich). The beetle believes that in order to accomplish his goal, he needs kindhearted humans to accompany him. Peter isn’t buying this wild tale, but Anne does, so she sets off into outer space with Mr. Zoomzeman, prompting Peter to team up with the elderly Sandman (Raphael von Bargen) to try to bring her back.
Based on the 1915 German book “Little Peter’s Journey to the Moon,” by Gerdt Von Bassewitz, it’s an imaginative tale full of fantastical beings and whimsical landscapes that should appeal to little viewers. Mr. Zoomzeman looks a little too similar to Jiminy Cricket, but the rest of the world is unique enough. Ali Samadi Ahadi directed, and he wrote the screenplay with Arne Nolting.
Dina Gachman is an Austin-based writer.
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