Stellaluna Review

All right, folks, we're going to review the 2004 made for video movie, "Stellaluna," based on the best-selling award winning children of the same name by Janell Cannon, who's responsible for making bats look like friendly creatures and making owls into dangerous species, which was all thanks to a suspenseful score by the great Jody Gray, who composed the music for Courage the Cowardly Dog. By the way, I'll will right now mention that Stellaluna, the best-selling book has turned the big 25 this year. And I think now's the right time to review this movie that has stuck with me ever since I bought it at Savers. So let's venture into the Sultry Forest to go see Stellaluna.

Janell Cannon's Stellaluna is in many ways a fabulous 1990's fairy tale. The book aired on the PBS series Reading Rainbow in 1994. On that episode, Anne Jackson narrated the story. It is featured in the 2001 movie I Am Sam. No, not Sam I am. Janell Cannon was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Burton H. and Nancy A. Cannon. She attended Burnsville High School, and graduated in 1975. After high school she moved to California, and from 1981 to 1993 she was a graphic artist for the Carlsbad Library, also, on that year, Janell Cannon began writing for the idea of Stellaluna. She spent most of the book by building up friendship with some satisfying payoffs. By the time Stellaluna was published on April of 1993, it caught the attention of children and parents and teachers everywhere and to this day, continues to be the most popular award-winning children's book. Back in 1998, Rankin/Bass' ever popular "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was turned into a 2D animated movie directed by William R. Kowalchuk. And when Stellaluna came along a few years later, the instant popularity of the book made a film version a no brainier. That means showing intelligence. But the book just couldn't be contained into a theatrical feature, so Scholastic and MGM offered to buy the rights from Janell, to make Stellaluna into a made-for-DVD movie, similar in format to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. When Scholastic producers Deborah Forte and Martha Atwater, everything was all set, with a script written by screenwriters Rachel Koretsky and Stephen Whitestone, who had previously wrote The Pebble and the Penguin, which was directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldmna. And then a filmmaker was hired, William R. Kowalchuk, a Canadian animator and director who originally made a name for himself as the production manager for MASK produced by DIC Entertainment. Kowalchuk went on to direct the highly underrated made-for-video movies such as Camelot: The Legend in 1998, and Ben Hur in 2003. Okay, enough behind the scenes talk, let's get on with the plot.

One night, as Stellaluna's mother followed the scent of ripe fruit, an owl spied her. On silent wings, the powerful bird swooped down upon the bats. Mother Bat tried to escape, but the owl struck again and again, knocking Stellaluna into the air. Her wings were as useless as wet paper, down down she went, faster and faster into the forest below. She lands in a bird's nest, and the three birds, Flitter, Pip, and Flap mistake her for a bird. Stellaluna tries to fit in, reluctantly trying to eat bugs without being disgusted by them. However, the Great White Owl is on the loose when Stellaluna accidentally wakes him up, he tries to seek vengeance on the bat he knocked down a few days before.

I highly doubt that Janell Cannon wasn't at least partly inspired by the infamous killer wolves in Beauty and the Beast when creating this vicious owl who abandoned Stellaluna from her mother.

The success of the made-for-DVD movie relied heavily on the casting of Stellaluna. The producers landed on Canadian voice actress, Chiara Zanni, who originally made a name for herself as the voice of Poky Little Puppy in the 1989 TV Special, Little Golden Book Land, and has spent her career doing usually tomboy related characters in roles like Alex from Camp Candy starring John Candy, Mimi Morton in What About Mimi?, Petunia in Baby Looney Tunes, and the colorful Daring Do on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. So, to me, Chiara Zanni will always be Stellaluna, it sounds like she's having a ball doing this energetic and cowardly character.

During the film's production, director William R. Kowalchuk impressively orchestrated two entirely separate group of actors. American actors and Canadian actors of a bunch, which is no easy task. Flitter, Pip, and Flap were played a group of virtual unknowns while the other characters were played by who's who of recognizable Canadian actors from film and production. Lee Tockar played Askari the Superhero Spider, he would later go on to voice George in 2007's version of George of the Jungle as well as the voice of Snips on Friendship is Magic. Scott McNeil portrays Horatio, a toucan who tries to make Stellaluna look like a real bird. McNeil was also part of the cast of Dragon Ball Z, Friendship is Magic, and Johnny Test, Brenda Crichlow who played the birds' mother, had other roles like an Office Co-Worker in Will Ferrell's Elf and Zecora in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Kathleen Barr, who played Kasuku is a popular Canadian heartthrob for television, starring in shows like Ed, Edd n Eddy as Kevin and Marie Kanker, Dragon Tales as Wheezie, Kid vs. Kat as Millie, Littlest Pet Shop as Mrs. Twombly, and my personal favorite, Trixie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Of course, the most recognizable voice among these guys is Blu Mankuma as the voice of the Great White Owl, Mankuma also starred in numerous movies and animated shows, as well as the voice of the red dragon in the Friendship is Magic episode, "Dragon Shy."

Here's a fun fact:  This version was panned by some fans of the original book as "truly unfaithful" and received mixed to negative reviews. Now despite what the critics say, I love this film, but I won't deny that nostalgia is a major factor. While I have read the book before I saw this, I appreciate the movie was able to accomplish, given it's a made-for-DVD. While I will admit that the film is not without its flaws. Specifically the addition of Askari the Spider and the bigger role of the Great White Owl, and the cheesy songs, even though I do like Stellaluna's song before Askari comes onto the screen. I think the filmmakers did all they could with the resources they had, for me though, I've seen this film a lot of times that it doesn't even matter.

It's seems like when it goes for the small scares, it goes really well, like the Owl dodging at the herd of bats, many of these scenes contribute to the film's atmosphere, as does the highly underrated musical score composed by Courage the Cowardly Dog composer, Jody Gray. Gray's compositions give the film an appropriate African tone right from the opening credits. The entire score is exciting, gloomy, and emotional, and you know the Great White Owl is lurking right around the corner, when it starts to become cold, wet, and heavily filled with bass drums and strings. I constant criticism I've noticed suggests that for such a blood-thirsty owl, he doesn't too much out of hooting and laughing at the bats and birds. Scholastic's standards didn't allow the filmmakers to be too severe with showing child birds in danger, which is ironic giving the source material. But they found away to dance around that rule. The Great White Owl corners, hoots, and threatens some of the main characters, but rarely goes in for the kill. This forced the filmmakers to be extra creative with the film's exciting, and some of what they ended up doing was pretty exciting stuff. Sure, the movie is practically "The Goonies" or "Courage the Cowardly Dog" compared to child friendly nature of the original book, but I kind of like it for that.

Over the years, Stellaluna has become the made-for-DVD movie that could. It might not be as well received as other adaptations like Arthur, The Magic School Bus, or Franklin, but from what I've seen, it's a movie that I love despite all the flaws it had. I even put The Great White Owl right up there with the others like the Killer Wolves from Beauty and the Beast, Him from The Powerpuff Girls, and Queen Chrysalis from Friendship is Magic. At the end of the day, the DVD of Janell Cannon's Stellaluna is a great but flawed release of a great but flawed film, and is deserving of a 4 out of 5 stars recommendation, buy it if you run across it.