UglyDolls

UglyDolls

Starring Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monae, Blake Shelton

Directed by Kelly Asbury

The Story:
Moxy (Kelly Clarkson) lives in Uglyville with her friends, and every day she believes that she'll be chosen to spend her life with a child since she's a doll, but each day it never happens.  Never getting discouraged, she discovers a tunnel that could possibly lead to the outside world, and brings along Ugly Dog (Pitbull), Wage (Wanda Sykes), Lucky Bat (Wang Leehom), and Babo (Gabriel Iglesias) with her through the tunnel, and emerges at the Institute of Perfection, run by seemingly perfect doll Lou (Nick Jonas).  The other dolls see Moxie and her friends as ugly - as does Lou, who sets out to sabotage them at every turn - but Moxie is undeterred and determined to pass the gauntlet - a test that will result in her being selected by a child.

As the UglyDolls get taunted by the others, they're also taken in by doll Mandy (Janelle Monae), who hides the fact that she has to wear glasses to see from Lou so she isn't deemed ugly as well.  She begins warming up to Moxie and her friends due to their continuous upbeat attitude as she sees the other "pretty" dolls living dull, stressful lives, and begins to open up about her own fears to them - as Lou plans to prevent Moxie from competing in the gauntlet by kidnapping Uglyville's mayor Ox (Blake Shelton) to tell Moxie a shocking fact about why Uglytown was built in the first place.

The Synopsis:
If you're looking for a film that's mediocre, unmemorable, and above all dull, "UglyDolls" is for you.  If you're looking for a film that takes from stellar animated films like "Toy Story 3," "Monsters, Inc," "Trolls," and the like, then "UglyDolls" is for you.  If you're looking for a vocal cast that does excel at their song numbers (since most of them are actually musicians and not actors) but don't deliver any tremendous vocal performances, "UglyDolls" is for you.  If you're looking for a film that's an obvious cash-grab to advertise a series of toys, "UglyDolls" is for you.  If you're looking for an at-least decent animated film that you won't want to rip your eyes out from after your kids want to see it for the upteenth time, then "UglyDolls" isn't for you.

It may sound like I'm knocking on this film, and I indeed am.  Even when it was first announced, I figured it would be terrible (and seeing each trailer only further strengthened my belief), and I wasn't disappointed.  The film does - as the name even entails - center on the important topic of what it takes to be beautiful and ugly (obvious hint: it's not about what you look like on the outside), and it's obvious what side you should find yourself on.  The film does have a sort of quirky magic to it, but even that is giving it too much credit.  The animation is bright, but lacking real substance, and nothing else about it is exactly memorable, only for how unmemorable the entire thing is.

"UglyDolls" takes several liberties from other animated films, and I'm surprised they don't get outright sued for copying them.  There's a furnace moment that's extremely similar to "Toy Story 3" (in fact, the whole concept is a rip-off of the "Toy Story" series, right through to when the dolls have to act like an inanimate doll in the presence of humans).  There's the whole concept of going against the status quo like "Monsters, Inc."  There's just so many different moments in the film that hearkens back to other animated films that this one itself seems like a stitched-together Frankenstein monster of better quality animated films.

The UglyDolls is a series of plush toys created in 2001 by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, and actually have had a huge following since their inception, and offers a unique alternative to the typical "perfect" looking dolls in the market.  Why they decided they needed a full-length film to advertise their toys is beyond me, but the bomb that "UglyDolls" was more than likely didn't help their chances of cashing in.
The film rightfully advertises itself as "the musical movie event of the year," because it sure can't hang its hat on the acting ability.  None of the famed musicians who star in this film are actually talented when it comes to performing with emotion or inflection, as they remain monotone mostly throughout the entire thing (casting Kelly Clarkson as the lead was probably not the best idea, since her previous big screen role was in the maligned "From Justin to Kelly" which was one of the biggest flops in cinematic history).  Some of the songs were catchy and fun, a nice infusion of pop, electric, and rap that talks about the importance of being yourself, standing up for yourself, and keeping up positive vibes, but these few song numbers don't make for a great story.

The Summary:
If you have kids who really want to see "UglyDolls," I highly suggest you just put in a film like "Toy Story" and they'll never know the difference - and you'll be spared from a completely boring, dull, unmemorable movie that just strings together concepts from other better animated films.

The Score: D-