Smallfoot is only the fifth movie from the Warner Animation Group (WAG), which is known for the LEGO movies, but it has dipped its toe in to more traditional movies with Storks. Which was oddly a Sony Animated film financed and distributed by Warner Brothers. This strange relationship must have worked well because Smallfoot was created much the same way, with Sony doing the animating, and Warner doing everything else. As with Storks, the end result is a fine family movie that will keep kids entertained and adults mostly engaged.
Smallfoot is about a group of yetis that live high in the mountains. They have a complex society with a bunch of strange rules written on stones. Those rules will get challenged when Migo (Channing Tatum) finds a smallfoot (James Corden), AKA a human, which the stones say doesn’t exist.
The plot is straightforward: This smallfoot challenges the status quo, and the elder wants none of that. Also the message is basic: Choose knowledge over ignorance, and embrace the outside world over isolation, but straightforward and basic are good for a family movie. The kids will be able to keep up with what is going on.
The movie has a good collection of actors who can all sing and read lines well, but there aren’t any real standouts. Just a bunch of professionals doing their jobs, and that is more than enough for this movie.
Smallfoot is not a classic, and it is not going to be a family favorite, but if it is on Netflix or your kids are dying to go to the theater and you haven’t seen it yet, you could do worse. It will at least let you change it up so that your kids aren’t watching the same thing over and over. It is nice to see Warner Brothers getting back in to animation. They have been out of the game for far too long. However, while Storks and Smallfoot were good, it would be nice to see them do something more ambitious with their next non-LEGO flick.