‘Animal Crackers’ has a solid third act that almost overcomes its many flaws

Posted on July 31, 2020

By MARK VIOLA

The latest animated film for Netflix is “Animal Crackers,” about a man who inherits a circus and must use a box of magical animal crackers to save it from going under. A U.S./China co-production from 2017, the film never got a theatrical release in this country for a variety of reasons, but is now available online for Netflix subscribers.

That is actually not a bad thing for this movie, because if “Animal Crackers” had been released in theaters, I would have likely said it wasn’t worth paying full ticket price to take the family to go see it. However, it is a harmless 105 minutes of entertainment at home, and now you can watch it for free, as long as you have Netflix. So, if you’re in need of a family film — with more than a few jokes aimed at the parents — you can definitely do worse.

From a technical standpoint, the animation is okay for a direct-to-television release, but it still leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the facial expressions on the various characters. Sound-mixing is also hit or miss, which is something of a trend in low-budget animated movies. This was one of my biggest issues with the 2016 film, “Leap,” and while it’s better here, it is still quite noticeable.

As for the story, the writers unfortunately try to juggle too many plot threads and characters, and even for a movie about the circus, that turns out an acrobatic act that they can’t quite nail. All of this builds to an admittedly entertaining third act with lots of action and several narrative payoffs, but it takes a long while to get there.

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