Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness

This cute children’s adventure flick is now available on Netflix

RATING: G

LENGTH: 1 hour 31 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

This colorful animation is based on a comic book series by Chris Grine. The story is about a brave young animal explorer who teams up with two trusty friends to find a powerful artifact before his greedy uncle can get his paws on it. Eager to fit in and feel loved in spite of his differences, he is obsessed with adventuring in spite of his clumsiness. The film is directed by Ben Stassen and Benjamin Mousquet. The screenplay was written by David Collard.

I have 4 sons. One of them was obsessed with hamsters so, of course, we had plenty of hamsters over the years. He would have really enjoyed this movie when he was a little kid.

THINGS I LIKED:

The animation is delightfully detailed and colorful. And the textures of things like wood and water are so impressive.
The voice talents include Jordan Tartakow (Chickenhare), Joe Ochman (Abe), Danny Fehsenfeld (Lapin), Mark Irons (Piggies), and Donte Paris.
The design of Abe the turtle, the royal servant, is totally adorable. I loved the entertaining touch of his constantly-changing hats. I had pet turtles for 25 years, so I guess I’m a little biased, but Abe had most of the funny lines too.
Inspired heavily by Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, there are many scenes that are almost duplicated with a respectful nod to the classic. At one point, the turtle servant quips, “Darn tropes!” ha ha Adults will recognize some of the music inspired by other movies too. The Easter eggs come from movies like Moana, Angry Bird, Lion King, and even Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back!
Plenty of humor, both spoken and visual.
The animation design of the pig soldiers was ridiculously cute and original.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Not all of the voices seemed to match the characters.
A lot of the humor is geared towards adults. Many of the jokes, references, and vocabulary will go way over the heads of young kids.
I was hoping the hamsters were going to be cuter and more epic.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Bullying
Animated violence in a bar scene and other locations
Characters in perilous situations
It’s a kid’s movie so, yeah, there is farting (from a skunk)
No profanity. Instead, we hear words like “darn”.
This movie is family-friendly for all ages.

THEMES:

Self-identity and finding out what makes you special
Confidence in one’s self
Courage
Family
Friendship
Working together
Using one’s unique talents

FUNNY LINES:

* “Darn semantics” – Royal turtle servant

INTERESTING LINES:

* “The things that make us different are the things that make us special.” – dad/king

“Look, all of us are born with things that make us different. The only choice we have is how we see those things. So, we can either be ashamed of them or we embrace them and recognize that our differences are what make us special.” – skunk