Diplo’s Mighty Adventure Film Analysis – Kids’ Dino Animated Film Goes Meta Pushing Back Against ‘Sweet’
The film opens in well-trodden space for kids’ movies: a tiny well-meaning dinosaur, a mildly annoying protagonist, a snarky sidekick, and an assortment of other critters. Yet this Czech/Polish/Slovakian feature executes an unexpected shift.
Out of nowhere, the plot transitions into a physical setting. The audience discovers a human artist working in a secluded workspace, crafting the identical film we’ve just been watching.
The creator is interrupted by an extremely grating figure – reminiscent of a hyper-girly movie stereotype. She orders that he remove his original designs and create something more marketable and “charming”.
The result is a devastating erasure of the insufficiently cute. The main character is separated from family and, despite being slightly tiresome, it’s moving that he believes the destruction happened because of him.
The layered fiction develops as kookier personalities are eliminated to create space for something more palatable. This gives the film thematic resonance – considering cartoons is the medium most influenced by the lure of adorableness.
That said, while the themes are more interesting than typical kids’ fodder, the cast don’t captivate. This isn’t about drawn figures needing to be likable, but you do have to want to spend time alongside them. Here, that’s not entirely the case.
Diplo releases in UK and Irish theaters on the 19th of September.
