Special Review
This review was requested by Discord user Linkie. If you'd like to join the server, click the button below. Visit DiscordKenn Viselman was the American producer of Thomas & Friends and The Teletubbies, which he wanted to adapt to film. Series creator Anne Wood refused, so he decided to create something similar loosely based on the series My Bedbugs. He got the idea for audience interactivity after seeing a screening of Madea Goes to Jail with an overactive audience. Viselman wanted to have kids be able to get up, dance, and sing along with the movie in the theater. In the director’s chair was Matthew Diamond, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary for 1998’s Dancemaker. Originally filmed in 2009, the film sat on the shelves for years because Viselman wanted to patent the film’s interactivity. Its production budget was $20 million, but an additional $40 million was spent on marketing, totaling around $60 million. In August 2012, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure was released.
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Rating
Synopsis
The Oogieloves, consisting of Goobie (Misty Miller), Zoozie (Stephanie Renz), and Toofie (Malerie Grady), are putting together a surprise party. It’s their pillow Schluufy’s birthday and they got some magical balloons, but their vacuum J. Edgar (Nick Drago) loses them. With help from him and Windy Window (Maya Stange), the Oogieloves set off to get the balloons back. Along the way, they meet several eccentric characters, each with their own quirks and song numbers to help them. They meet Dotty Rounder (Cloris Leachman), Milky Marvin (Chazz Palminteri), Rosalie Rosebud (Toni Braxton), and Bobby Wobbly (Cary Elwes). Along with Lola and Lero Sombrero (Jaime Pressly and Christopher Lloyd), each offers a gift along with the balloon. It’s a race against time as Schluufy’s birthday party is coming up very soon and they need all the balloons. Will they succeed, or will they not be able to get the balloons on time?
Review
The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure is one of the worst movies I’ve ever had to review. Granted, I’m not the target audience for this, but I can’t imagine anyone over the age of 5 enjoying this. This comes off as more of a corporate attempt at creating marketable characters than someone with a message to tell. Obviously, not every family/children’s film needs a message to be good, but this isn’t even good children’s entertainment. For a film that had a $20 million budget, the production values are incredibly cheap between the sets and puppets. Sure, there’s tons of color and everything looks bright, but it has a flat and boring look to it. It would be excusable if this were some direct-to-video kids movie, but the fact that it was theatrical is shocking. Guess it’s no wonder the film was such a massive flop.
The budget probably went to the cast they assembled, who all look like they’re embarrassed to be there. Chazz Palminteri and Christopher Lloyd in particular look confused as if they’re unaware of what’s happening around them. Toni Braxton isn’t too bad, and her song isn’t awful, but she clearly deserved better than this given her talent. Cloris Leachman and Jaime Pressley are making the most of the material, and Cary Elwes is either spacey or self-aware. His performance is so bizarre that it makes you wonder if he knew what kind of movie he was in. Anyway, the film’s attempts at trying to add interactivity come across as annoying and make the overall experience more grating. Granted, the story is pretty uneventful, so it’s not like you’re missing out on anything whenever you’re told to stand. Overall, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure is best avoided at all costs.
Buy The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure from Amazon: https://amzn.to/38b7kU0
