Movies / Animé and Toons

The Wild DVD Review

By Tony Farinella
September 15, 2006 - 02:36

Disney has been able to make films successfully for quite some time now that both kids and adults can enjoy and share together. Which is no small feat. Parents don't want to watch a kids movie and think to themselves they are a parent, why are they watching? Kids don't want to watch an adult movie and be confused by it being too adult and over their heads. So in order to please both sides of the coin, Disney has come up with films that have enough gags to keep the kids entertainted, and some comical speech that the parents will get a kick out of.

'The Wild' premise was used in the summer of 2005 with 'Madagascar', but this time much more successfully. In 'The Wild' everyone has a lot more to do, a lot more to say, and are far more interesting. 'Madagascar' went from being a light childrens film into savage territory as some of the characters got hungry and considered eating each other. It just side stepped cannibalism. 'The Wild' has no interest in really tackling that issue.

What it does have interest in is giving everyone plenty of time to have fun, cause tomfoolery, and allowing the audience having fun along the way. A lot of times these films get bogged down with too many animated tricks, visual gimmicks, and backgrounds. 'The Wild' knows to just let the simple story follow through. Let the actors have fun with their vocal mannerisms, give them room to breathe, and let them have fun by bouncing stuff off each other.

The story follows a crew of lovable wild animals who escape from the zoo and find themselves in way over their head. Ryan (Greg Cipes), a lion cub, has left the comfort of the zoo and finds himself in a shipping container that is being taken to Africa. His father is worried sick and ends up chasing the ship to find his missing son. He brings along his loyal pals Nigel the Koala (Eddie Izzard), Benny the Squirrel (James Belushi), and Bridget the Giraffe (Janeane Garofalo). The father is named Samson The Lion and voiced by 24's Kiefer Sutherland.

During their trip, they run into a revolving door of animals, and unique creatures. Some even voiced by William Shatner. But it is all basically window dressing for all the actors to have a lot of fun with their animal persona's. Eddie Izzard is especially funny as the popular Koala with a lot of fame. Kiefer Sutherland is a long way from his '24' character as he is a sweet, loving, and caring poppa.

The film was also surprisingly warm hearted as it has some tender moments. I never thought I could get choked up watching wild animals, but I did.

***

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Image & Sound: Disney DVD continues to make top notch DVDs with their transfers. All the great vibrant colors of the film are clearly shown on DVD. One of the best transfers I have seen in recent memory. Disney hits a homer again.

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Special Features: We get some very good deleted scenes that I wish were included in the film. The film was only 82 minutes and I would have liked to seen the extra stuff. But it is here on the DVD. A neat commentary by the films creators is included. They share a lot of the animation process. We also get Eddie Izzard unleashed as they show you his blunders and bloopers. This was my favorite part of the DVD. Eddie gets to show off his comedic stylings. Rounding it out is the Everlife music video: "Real Wild Child."
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Final Words: 'The Wild' is a surprisingly funny, sweet, and light hearted romp. Kids will love the heck out of this thing. Parents might even sneak and watch it themselves. Good family fun for everyone.

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 - 16:51