Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Voices of: Debi Derryberry, Megan Cavanagh, Mark DeCarlo, Jeffrey Garcia, Martin Short, Patrick Stewart, Andrea Martin
Directed by: John A. Davis
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: When aliens kidnap all the adults, Jimmy Neutron and friends must rely on their intelligence to rescue them.

Review:

Tim: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a movie that will appeal to only the youngest and most naive of moviegoers. Whereas the best animated film successfully appeal to wide audience demographics, this is a film that requires a good amount of inexperience to be appreciated. However, if you're looking for a film that appeal to preschoolers and early-elementary school children, you can do far worse than this one.

The animation here is interesting. On the one hand, the depiction of these kids is a little creepy. On the other hand, some of the scenes depict pretty amazing animation. I wasn't impressed with the humans generated in this animated world, but everything around them is quite beautiful to watch. The computer animation here is certainly not up to snuff with what Pixar is doing, but it's not bad, either.

The basic story is pretty fun- aliens kidnap all the parents, and the kids have to save them. Yes, this storyline has been done before, but the youngest viewers will be unaware of that. I can imagine how this story appeals to young kids- it turns the typical parent-child relationship upside down, empowering the kids to save the day. What child wouldn't find that story appealing?

It was a bit disheartening to see some massive gaps in reality. I am not suggesting that everything needed to be 100% realistic, but it's kind of a huge hole when Jimmy and his friends can breathe in outer space without any kind of helmet at all. Things like that were very hard for me to believe (on the other hand, it was easy for me to buy that Jimmy created rocketships out of carnival rides). I just wish the story had taken reality into more consideration here.

One of my favorite aspects of this film is the message that it's cool to be smart. Young viewers cannot hear this enough. I'm so tired of "cool" meaning dumbed down. Kids need to know that being smart is cool, and it was fun to see a "nerdy" genius as the hero of this film. One of my favorite moments toward the end (spoiler alert, as if you care), was when the "cool" kid panicked and the "nerdy" Jimmy Neutron had to save the day. I thought this overall message was fantastic, and I hope children watching this embrace the idea that it's okay to be smart.

The relationships between the characters aren't bad at all. It was fun to see Jimmy interacting with his parents, as well as his friends. I liked the relationship between the little blonde haired girl- they clearly did not like each other, but that had more to do with their similarities, rather than their differences. I did get caught up in these relationships, which is a very good thing.

I found this movie to be mildly enjoyable, but it's clear that there is a divide between this film and the other two films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. Paramount put together a fun little film here, but Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius just not compare to either Pixar's Monsters, Inc. or the Academy Award winner (which was well deserved), Shrek. This is a movie that very young audiences will love and older viewers can tolerate. However, there's nothing classic about this film and it will quickly be forgotten in our collective movie consciousness.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs; Monsters, Inc.; Shrek