The biggest hurdle for THE WILD is that MADAGASCAR beat it out of the gate, so MADAGASCAR got all the notice. This happens in Hollywierd all the time: remember when two asteroid movies (DEEP IMPACT and Armageddon), two volcano movies (DANTE'S PEAK and VOLCANO) or two bug movies (ANTZ and A BUG'S LIFE) hit the movie screens close together? With so many films always in production, you are inevitably going to have overlap. So quit griping about THE WILD! It's a lotta fun if you give it half a chance. I liked the LION KING and MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY references, and I found the humor more of the chuckle and smile variety than the guffaw type. The animation is beautifully rendered in a more realistic than overly stylized manner, which, unfortunately means the characters, for the most part, don't have big facial reactions. For myself, I would have liked the bigger, more cartoony expressions, but what they did worked just fine. The story of THE WILD actually has only a few plot points in common with MADAGASCAR, and when you see it you'll understand what I mean (no spoilers here!) And the voice talent was excellent: Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Belushi, Eddie Izzard, Janeane Garofalo, William Shatner (yes, Bill Shatner!), Richard Kind and the always welcome Patrick Warburton head up the characters and add their inimitable contributions to the comedy. So, don't go in to THE WILD with preconceptions: just enjoy. I did!
