A trio of bobblehead toys must band together to defend their collector’s home from a pair of greedy relatives in this mediocre CG-animated comedy.
Bobbleheads is a dreary, dim-witted film that seems to be made by animators who have long since run out of ideas, or simply lost interest. It’s an unfunny and sloppy movie that aims to appeal to children, but only succeeds in making them feel bored. It’s a disappointing effort from the old masters of animation, who should be capable of creating better movies than this one.
The film follows Jim (Anthony de Stefanis), a theme park designer, and his wife, Karen, who have two young daughters. While they’re away, their no-good brother Earl and his mischievous girlfriend Binky break into the house to steal Jim’s prized collection of bobbleheads, including his favorite, a baseball player called “Deuce.” The bobbleheads team up with the kids to protect their collection and thwart their greedy plan, but along the way, they learn a valuable lesson about the importance of family.
It takes a while to get into the story, as it tries to set up characters and give some background to them. The first half of the movie is a bit slow, but once it picks up, there’s a decent amount of action to keep kids interested. The ending is a bit of a letdown, though, as it doesn’t fully wrap things up in an interesting way.
Some of the jokes in this movie are pretty funny, especially some of the ones that make fun of the characters’ names. For example, the movie reveals that a bobblehead of Tom Hanks is named Hanksy. The movie also makes a few other references to famous athletes and celebrities that will be familiar to fans of those sports.
Overall, Bobbleheads is a pretty forgettable film that shouldn’t be seen by anyone over the age of 10. Its animation looks like something you’d see on YouTube Kids, its humor is mostly unfunny, and its characters are a bunch of stereotypical stereotypes. That said, it’s not nearly as bad as some other animated films that have been released in recent years.
One thing that should be pointed out is that the director of this film, Kirk Wise, was part of the crew that worked on some of Disney’s most iconic films, including Atlantis, Hunchback, and Beauty and the Beast. It’s sad that he would make a film this bad.
The best part of this movie is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a low-budget comedy that features some mild peril and some slapstick humor. It’s a good way to entertain the kiddies for an hour or so. But don’t expect anything great.