What began as a doodle in a letter and launched a line of popular plush dolls and toys. The UglyDolls has finally hit the big screen!
I have been a massive fan of the UglyDolls and the artwork of their creators, David Horvath, and Sun-Min Kim. So when the movie was announced a few years ago, I was stoked. What would the story be about? Would they talk and how would they sound? Would the animation be 2D or 3D?
So many of these questions were answered when the first UglyDolls trailer dropped to very mixed reviews by UglyDoll fans, many that seemed quite negative on Reddit. I have to admit that I was not too thrilled by what I saw in the trailer, but after finally seeing the movie it was totally not what I expected. It was perfect. UglyDolls Sure, there were some changes and alterations to the original characters, such as the name of the character known as Gorgeous was changed to Moxy, but in the end, it kept to the theme of what the UglyDolls are all about… quirky fun, being unique and U Gotta Love Yourself.
Wang Leehom stars as Lucky Bat, Kelly Clarkson stars as Moxy, and Blake Shelton stars as Ox in UglyDolls
Courtesy of STXfilms
The film centers around the Moxy (voiced by Kelly Clarkson), a bright, strong UglyDoll with a never give up attitude, as she waits for the day she is chosen to go to her forever child. Ox (voiced by Blake Shelton), the mayor of Uglyville, is protective of Moxy like a father-figure that does not want her to become disappointed if the day never arrives. She decides to leave Uglyville to seek out the answers she has been waiting for all her life. Joining her on this adventure is her friends, Uglydog (voiced by Pitbull), Wage (voiced by Wanda Sykes), Babo (voiced by Gabriel Iglesias), Lucky Bat (voiced by Wang Leehom). They soon realize that they are not the only dolls there and come across town of The Institute of Perfection, led by the ego-centric Lou (voiced by Nick Jonas) and his assistants The Spy Girls: Tuesday (voiced by Bebe Rexha). Kitty (voiced by Charli XCX) and Lydia (voiced by Lizzo). There they meet a kindred soul in Mandy (voiced by Janelle Monáe) who lends them a helping hand to pass Lou’s vigorous tests to make it to the ultimate test, The Gauntlet. Other character include, Peggy (voiced by Ice T), new Uglyville arrival Wedgehead (voiced by Emma Roberts) and Announcer Robots (voiced by Jane Lynch and Rob Riggle).
At first, I was not sure how I felt about some of the voices of some of the UglyDolls since these characters never had voices before. The voice actors they chose really seem to have worked. For some reason, I really enjoyed Wanda Sykes as the voice of Wage though.
I don’t even think I could have imagined the UglyDolls movie as a musical either. The songs were catchy and matched the feel of the movie. The music helped move the movie along during a couple of the slow parts.
Nick Jonas stars as Lou in UglyDolls
Courtesy of STXfilms
The art style of Uglyville differs from the original art style that the Uglydolls were created from. The original art style had a bit of Japanese influence, with a mix of sci-fi and the supernatural. Whereas the movie version has a patchwork of fabric, stitching, yarn, and buttons. Even the sun and moon were large buttons with the clouds looking like fluffs of cotton. Very different looks to where the UglyDolls live, like alternate universes.UglyDolls There are well over 100 UglyDoll characters in the Uglyverse, and only a tiny portion of them make appearances in the movie. I kinda thought that Cinko, Ninja Batty Shogun, Big Toe or Uglyworm would have made an appearance, but didn’t see them. Target could have easily been used in place of the octopus-like character in the movie too. Gibberish Cat and Willard are adorable characters.
Wang Leehom stars as Lucky Bat, Wanda Sykes stars as Wage, Pitbull stars as Ugly Dog, Gabriel Iglesias stars as Babo and Kelly Clarkson stars as Moxy in UglyDolls
Courtesy of STXfilms
I really enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would. It is a kids movie, but grown-ups would enjoy it, especially the music.
Stay until the end. If you used the UglyDoll Factory to create your own UglyDoll, it might be featured there as the credits roll.
UglyDolls is in theatres now and rated PG. www.uglydolls.com
