Doogal (2006)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Memorable, crazy movie

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I loved this movie when I was a kid, but watching it now as an adult I honestly don't know what I saw in it. So apparently, this movie was based on The Magic Roundabout, a French stop-motion series from the 60s. The movie has three different versions from France, England and the United States. I've seen the American version for those wondering. I have not seen the other two, but they can't be much worse than this. The story is standard kids movie material. A group of friends have to find magic diamonds to save the world from freezing completely. The animation is subpar at best, The novelty of seeing CGI versions of characters originally stop-motion wears off almost as soon as it's introduced. The characters are a mixed bag. They border on charming and friendly to just plain obnoxious. They hardly ever shut up. They are constantly bickering and making the situation worse for each other. The voice acting from almost everyone (Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, William H. Macy, etc) is lazy. The only person I felt was putting any effort was believe it or not Jon Stewart as the villain. I mean it's a generic villain who always loudly announces his plans to anyone listening, but Jon Stewart really put his all into it and I can see him pull the villain part in a much better movie. I should also add that there is a moose in the film who doesn't speak in the French and British versions but for some reason in this one has the voice of Kevin Smith. I wouldn't mind, but are his jokes funny? No. Oh, and the humor is dreadful. It mostly consists of fart jokes and random references to movies and tv shows we could be watching instead of this one. And wouldn't you know it, Butch Hartman (the creator of the Fairly Oddparents) wrote a completely different script of this movie for the American audiences, but the studio rewrote it without his knowledge or consent, which explains the farting and references to Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean. This movie is needles to say not very good. It feels weird watching a movie you loved as kid and realizing how awful it is now.

So the creators of the Fairly Odd Parents were behind this American version - that explains EVERYTHING.Pros: the animation and graphics are quality standard. (British version, too)Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE! -First of all, the title "Doogal" - the British version was titled "The Magic Roundabout" and that title was just fine! Also the dog's name was originally spelled "Dougal" but then the American version had the spelling changed to "Doogal." STUPID, RIGHT?! Why???????-Story is terribly clichéd, and full of unexplained plot elements. Why are people STILL using the carousel when there's an evil being locked inside it? How did the main characters befriend Zebedee in the first place to be able to call him down from the sky whenever they want? Also the whole action plot seems to be just forced into the story and it just doesn't match the essence of the original French stop-motion series this movie was based on. (This goes for the British version, too.)-The American re-dubbing: Why why WHY in the world did they even bother re-dubbing over the original British version?? I'm sure we Americans would be able to understand the British version just fine! (And if not, there's always closed captions, right?) This wouldn't be such a big problem if the casting wasn't so screwed up! Whoopi Goldberg voicing the cow for instance - her speaking voice does NOT match the cow's opera-singing voice at all! So obviously mismatched it hurts!! And the kid voicing Doogal is just annoying and it's a Completely different voice from the one in the trailers. (Even though that voice didn't fit Doogal so well.) There's even a moose in the American version that TALKS (voiced by Kevin Smith) when the moose in the British version was SILENT. Unnecessary acting, right?? Everyone else in the cast is talented and/or at least trying, but alas, their efforts are wasted. Poor Ian McKellen and Judi Dench.-Soundtrack: Yes, there are pointless pop songs in this that come right out of nowhere and don't match the essence of the story at all. Yuck. (British version is guilty of this too.)-"Captain Obvious" narration - Judi Dench as narrator (this version and British version) does a good job at first, but then after the main group of characters set out to gather three crystals to trap Zeebad back into the carousel (I know, just go with it), she goes overboard and starts describing things the audience can CLEARLY see for themselves. At one point in the volcanic region, she says "The path was very, var far. The path was very very narrow. The lava was very very hot." When we clearly SEE the train going on that long, narrow path over hot boiling lava! So yeah most of the narration gets pointless and just terribly annoying after that.-References: Yes, this movie either references or outright RIPS OFF other movies like in a quote from Pulp Fiction (in a kid's movie???), Pirates of the Caribbean (skeletons attacking), Halo, Harry Potter, that "It's Hammer Time!" thing wherever that came from, and CSI - and it's so forced and painful it's not even funny. When the group is in the cave or something and gets attacked by skeletons, one of them says "Pirates of the Caribbean!" and then somebody else actually says "Hey, I thought we said no Disney jokes!" Then why did you PUT this joke in, you idiots!?! Most of all, Lord of the Rings gets ripped off the most - yeah, with that whole "My precious!" blue crystal part, Zeebad saying he's the "Lord of the Springs," and the part with Zebedee falling to his death (Zebedee being voiced by GANDALF who met the same fate in Fellowship of the Ring, no less!) Good God, this movie sucks sucks SUCKS so much it cant even come up with it's own original story without ripping off every other BETTER movie out there!!-Characters: The characters just aren't interesting. They're flat and undeveloped, and Doogal is a terribly unlikable mutt who started this entire thing by trying to STEAL candy! Then he goes and takes EVERYONE with him and lets THEM do all the work to solve the problem while he just lazes around! Worst of all, this is never resolved. Great opportunity for character development LOST.Some people say the British version is better, but I disagree - it's the same lame quality. Neither version is really worth your time.Overall rating: 3/10 (only because of the quality animation)

Now I'm probably slightly biased towards the British version but 'Doogal'..... just made me angry. They re-dub voices that (in my opinion) were charming and crammed it with a boring, bland cast with no emotion or enthusiasm and then packed the film full of cultural reference's and fart jokes. Boring as hell. Should have never been released in the US if they planned for this jallopy pile of s***. I'm SURE the people in US could have understood the accents fine. But I'm sure this was just another money grabber than an entertaining charming film.Avoid raping your ears with this at all costs.

I have read a couple of reviews on this site, for this movie but i don't personally think that the movie is that bad.I saw this movie a long time back (on a hot summer day) and liked it. There were even a couple of moments in the past one year, when i wanted to see this movie, a second time. The Animations were smooth and the colors used were good. Story, Legend tells of three magic diamonds that--if in the wrong hands--can be united to create a force powerful enough to freeze the sun. When the evil sorcerer Zeebad escapes from his ancient prison, he vows to exact revenge by deep-freezing the earth forever. Determined to save the world, a fellowship of four unlikely heroes band together to foil the sorcerer's villainous plot. Led by the candy-loving mutt Doogal, friends Dylan, Brian and Ermintrude all embark on an epic adventure to save the world. In order to find the diamonds before Zeebad locates them, they must climb icy mountains, navigate fiery pits of molten lava, sail across vast oceans and pass through a booby-trapped temple guarded by an army of ninja skeleton warriors. Along the way they learn that the most powerful weapon is their friendship--which even Zeebad's evil magic cannot destroy.