The Cinematheque

“FernGully shaped a generation … A Silent Spring for the playground set, presenting millennials with their first look at eco-disaster.”

Chantel Tattoli, Vanity Fair

Seventeen years before eco-epic Avatar made box-office history, another film tackled the threat of man-made environmental catastrophe by way of fantasy and cutting-edge animation. Set in an Australian woodland inhabited by magical fairies, Disney-defector Bill Kroyer’s green-message movie revolves around a lumberjack (Christian Slater) accidentally made pint-sized by a well-meaning young sprite (Samantha Mathis). He then joins the fairies’ efforts to eradicate a pollution monster (Tim Curry) unleashed by humans clearcutting the forest. Robin Williams, in his first animated role, is the zany voice of a rapping lab bat. Elton John’s original song ​“Some Other World” marked the Rocket Man’s first contribution to a cartoon soundtrack. Kroyer, an early adopter of CGI, bucked convention by marrying digital and hand-drawn techniques. FernGully was screened at the UN General Assembly on Earth Day, 1992.

“Funny, pretty, touching, scary, magical stuff … It’s worth planning a family trip to FernGully.”

Hollis Chacona, Austin Chronicle