Bongee Bear and The Kingdom of Rhythm is a UK-produced animated film and is one your kids will adore and talk about for days. There is no shortage of princess and royal flicks geared at children, often with the ultimate fantasy of life in the regal bubble. What sets Bongee Bear apart initially, was its striking ability to not glamourize that life, but merely show it as simply a vehicle for a story with a royal family who is grounded, among “the people,” and suffers emotional pain and celebratory happiness as “normal” as is everyone else.
It all takes place in The Kingdom of Rhythm—yes, this is a musical animated feature, what gave it away?!—and we meet a young bear named Bongee (voiced by Rob Paulsen of Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs fame). He has taken upon himself to do whatever he has to do to ensure the safety of the young Princess Katrina (Debi Derryberry, who’s known for voicing Jimmy Neutron in the Academy Award-nominated film Jimmy Neutron-Boy Genius).
Enter our antagonist, the evil witch Bandrilla (voiced by the legend, Ruth Buzzi). She goes and casts an awful spell on the citizenry of The Kingdom of Rhythm that denies them the joy that is dancing—recalling a live-action cinematic cousin Footloose. How and why this comes about is revealed in such a manner that it will strike a chord in kids, i.e., we identify with Bandrilla and although her actions are terrible, their genesis comes from a place that is perfect for a parent-child discussion post flick.
Don’t worry parents, sometimes we enter a cinematic experience and have one eyebrow raised with worries or concerns about the villain and whether we’re going to be talking about “you know who” for countless forthcoming nights as bedtime is when the imagination—both good and bad—runs free! Bandrilla is drawn and performs acts that are evil, yet there is nothing overtly horrifying about her. In fact, as stated earlier, we feel her pain—even if her reaction was clearly wrong.
Bongee enlists the help of his pal Myrin (finding another legend lending their voice to this film with Dom DeLuise) as the pair embark on a quest to break the spell and return dancing to the land once again. Bandrilla has her faithful feathered baddies, Barnabas (Jess Harnell) and Ivan (Jeff Bennett, the voice of Johnny Bravo and Kowalski from The Penguins of Madagascar), and all three will do whatever they must to prevent Bongee from succeeding.
Bongee Bear and The Kingdom of Rhythm is the product of writer-director Brian Zemrak, who makes his directorial debut with the animated feature. Often times we see it, the best person to helm a project is the person who conceived it and that is certainly the case with Zemrak’s film. He keenly knows these characters and that adoration shines through every single frame. The storyteller also has woven a web that should stand out in the animated milieu due to its emotional centering that matches its richly drawn animation.
The all-star cast also features June Lockhart (Lost in Space), Julian Sands (A Room with a View), and Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years). Bongee Bear and The Kingdom of Rhythm lands in select theaters and On Demand on December 3.
Also, the score features a slew of songs that are solid, albeit shorter than the usual animated musical numbers. That, honestly, is ingenious. Kids notoriously have a shorter attention span and I’ve noticed when a song goes on for too long, a movie as a whole suffers for the child witnessing it. The songs in Bongee Bear and The Kingdom of Rhythm are easily a minute to minute-and-a-half shorter than your average Disney flick, and that is a very good thing.
Grade: B+