469. Smallfoot; movie review

SMALLFOOT
Cert U
96 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very mild threat, rude humour language

An animation which has laughs, great tunes, moral messages and entertains throughout.
I had managed to avoid much of the publicity around Smallfoot and that proved to be a real blessing because it was a very pleasant surprise.
This is history told from the point of view of yetis who live in the mountains above the clouds in a community which is happily driven by superstition.
Well, actually by superstition I mean laws which expressly deny the existence of what fable has called a smallfoot (human being).
The story focuses on Migo (voiced by Channing Tatum) an adolescent yeti who believes all the elders tell him until he comes into contact with a smallfoot when a plane crashes on their mountain.
However, by the time he can prove his story, the pilot and plane have disappeared. Thus, he is banished from his community until he admits he made up a tall tale.

Thereafter, he finds some unlikely allies in his quest to go beneath the clouds and find a smallfoot.
Inevitably, he succeeds but sets dominoes tumbling when he embarks of an awkward friendship with a human television reporter (James Corden).
This being an animation for kids, slapstick comedy is very much to the fore but there is also a clever layer of morality in Karey Kirkpatrick and Jason Reisig's film.
So, as parents hope that the kids are taking in the messages of accepting those who are different and not jumping to conclusions, they will really be having a ball watching yetis diving off mountains.
Meanwhile, there is enough in Smallfoot to keep adults interested both in terms of an original storyline, hummable tunes and a bit of a giggle.
One question, however, remains. Should humans fear the abominable snowman or should yetis fear humans?
Inevitably, I was left believing that smallfoot was far more dangerous than a monster who is as big as a house.

Reasons to watch: Great tunes, action-driven but with some moral messages
Reasons to avoid: Not that many laugh-out-loud moments

Laughs: Four
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Director interview - Jason Riesig: "I love working with Channing - he was a lot of fun - from beginning to end he was a pleasure to work with."

The big questions - Do yetis really exist?

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