Walt Disney Animation Studios has had successful projects over the last few years to add to its longstanding legacy in storytelling. Films like Encanto, which celebrated Colombian culture under a magical landscape and Raya and the Last Dragon, which took on Southeast Asian cultures and mythology, continue to advance the studio’s approach to creating diverse stories. Don Hall and Qui Nguyen team up once more to continue this path of original animation after their collaboration on Raya. With Strange World, the duo captures a big adventure fit for an entire family this holiday season. This breathtaking, funny, and heartwarming tale is creativity and sincere storytelling at its finest.
Hall and Nguyen’s latest action-packed adventure introduces a legendary family of explorers, the Clades. Jake Gyllenhaal voices Searcher Clade, former explorer-turned-brilliant-farmer who proudly enjoys spending time with his family. His 16-year-old son, Ethan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White) longs for adventure, but doesn’t want to disappoint his father in the process. Rounding out the small family is Gabrielle Union’s Meridian, an accomplished pilot and the headstrong woman of the Clade household. When Searcher’s plant-based power source begins to give out, the Clade family must race against the clock and venture into unknown territory with Avalonia president Callisto Mal (voiced by Lucy Liu) to determine the cause of its troubles. While in this uncharted region, they all witness a mysterious world full of shocking surprises that will change their lives forever.
Strange World contains everything audiences love to experience in animated features. It’s original, has gorgeous animation, and the film includes a heartwarming storyline that anyone could relate to. At its core, the film is about sons and fathers, legacy, and growing into one’s own and deciding what kind of person one wants to be. Through the three generations of Clades — Searcher, the strong-willed farmer, Ethan, the emotionally-torn teenager, and Jaegar (Dennis Quaid), the legendary explorer who went missing 25 years ago — the script beautifully captures the importance of fatherhood. Often, there’s a struggle between setting a path for one’s children and letting them decide for themselves, and the script’s focus on this element truly encapsulates how legacy often interferes with reality and expectations.
Qui Nguyen’s script doesn’t just pull from reality when it comes to exploring the relationships between three generations of family men, it’s also incredibly smart and funny at every turn. The icing on the cake is the extraordinary, rich, gorgeous, and creative animation that matches the action-packed adventure that Nguyen’s screenplay calls for. The feature is an animation dream come true as it’s incredibly pleasing visually and contains genuine messaging about family dynamics in a realistic yet creative way. One may head into Strange World expecting an average family movie with typical action sequences and character interactions. But this is one of the best animated films in recent years that contains those elements and exceeds expectations by adding humor and heart.
It goes without saying, but a film like Strange World requires very little effort to love on the surface. Thankfully, its core messages and themes match the quality of its storytelling with great voice acting to match. The film also showcases an openly gay teenager, Ethan, a component that Disney hasn’t fully embraced in a while. The difference here is that it feels so natural, whereas in other films it tends to come off as an afterthought that scripts shy away from. For a while, the LGBTQ+ community has longed for films that center their livelihood in a way that embraces their existence without any added qualifiers or requirements. Through Strange World, it finally feels like Disney is taking huge strides in that direction, and it is beautiful to see.
Rich with stunning animation, fun action sequences, and heartwarming storylines, Strange World is the must-see animated film of the season. This isn’t just a story about exploring new territory or even discovering a new part of oneself. It’s about making appropriate choices that would impact the environment and future generations. It’s easy to look at Hall and Nguyen’s latest as another animated film with a great cast to sell its adventure story. But thanks to the remarkably creative script centered on sons, fathers, and legacy, it’s the kind of feature that will take the industry by storm and require other studios to step up their game in animation and screenplay.
Strange World releases in theaters on Wednesday, November 23. The film is 102 minutes long and rated PG for action, peril, and some thematic elements.
