‘Thelma the Unicorn’ Review: Unexceptional Netflix Animated Feature

Nearer in tone to the sharp grownup collection “BoJack Horseman” than to Illumination’s bland “Sing” franchise, Netflix’s “Thelma the Unicorn” avoids being rendered utterly unoriginal by its overly acquainted premise because of constant splashes of acid humor and a plethora of wacky supporting characters. Reimagined from the favored 2015 kids’s ebook by Aaron Blabey, this bright-colored fable considerations a feminine pony chasing musical stardom disguised as a horned magical creature. However by altering her id to chase these ambitions, Thelma betrays herself and those that actually know her.

The difference marks the animated function debut for co-directors Jared Hess and Lynn Wang. Hess, nonetheless greatest identified for co-writing and directing the 2004 indie hit “Napoleon Dynamite,” acquired an Oscar nomination earlier this yr for the handcrafted animated quick “Ninety-5 Senses” a few Dying Row inmate. He shared the accolade together with his spouse and careerlong collaborator Jerusha Hess (additionally his co-writer on “Thelma”). That honored work is a far cry from this universe the place people coexist with speaking animals.

Former Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard voices the conflicted singing heroine. There’s an interesting dissonance between the look of the stubby pony and the performer’s potent pipes, which appear higher suited to soulful rock tunes than vapid pop. Howard’s privileged voice will get the purpose throughout that no matter Thelma’s bodily look, it’s her expertise that ought to earn her the viewers’s consideration.

Apparently, one key departure from the supply materials is Thelma’s design, which possible took its cues from Howard’s hair and persona. Although it seems animals on this world are usually not subservient to people, Thelma nonetheless labors at a farm alongside her loyal donkey mates and bandmates Otis (Will Forte) and Reggie (“Napoleon Dynamite” star Jon Heder).

The trio have a band, the Rusty Buckets, that has did not qualify for a serious music pageant. Their luck may change, nonetheless, when Thelma turns into a sensation in a single day. As quickly as she serendipitously transforms right into a glittery pink pretend unicorn with a carrot for a horn, one can instantly infer that the climax will revolve round her secret being disclosed. A viral video (animals have cell telephones right here, regardless that they stroll on all fours and haven’t any option to retailer them) convinces Vic Diamond (Jemaine Clement), an unscrupulous supervisor who resembles a personality straight from the Seventies — assume Swan in “Phantom of the Paradise” — to pursue Thelma and rework her into his subsequent worthwhile success.

When in leans into its want to be a cynical parody of the music business, à la “Popstar: By no means Cease By no means Stopping,” that’s when “Thelma the Unicorn” briefly feels biting in a comical method. Scenes involving Nikki Narwhal (Ally Dixon), an aquatic pop diva jealous of Thelma’s impending breakout, and Vic touch upon the perils of the enterprise: At one level, Vic reads Nikki a vicious overview of her Las Vegas present, and later he absurdly pilots a ship on the Los Angeles River. As soon as Thelma indicators with Vic, she will get the previous Hollywood therapy by getting into right into a fabricated romance with a well-known horse, and there’s even a jab at synthetic intelligence when a pc immediately writes an idiotic hit single about cud.

From a visible standpoint, “Thelma the Unicorn” seems to be almost indistinguishable from different nondescript computer-animated initiatives. A lot of the human characters learn as in the event that they could possibly be plucked from or plugged right into a “Despicable Me” film with out anybody noticing. Likewise, the animals may stroll on stage in “Sing” as in the event that they’d all the time belonged there. On a granular stage, variations might exist between these, however to the bare eye, what’s noticeable is the uninspired homogeneity in design, texture and lighting.

Nonetheless, the Hess duo interject weird humor into their screenplay by way of background characters by giving us a glimpse into their internal lives. Be careful for a brief, middle-aged man obsessive about Thelma to the purpose he desires to be her son, most likely a dig on the Bronie subculture of grownup males who adore “My Little Pony.” Or maybe chuckle on the gallows humor of a woman asking Thelma’s “boyfriend” to signal the urn containing her grandmother’s ashes. The gathering of those tangential moments (of which there are loads) ring extra memorable than the core narrative and its apparent message. Though not as offbeat as final yr’s “Leo,” Hess and Wang’s effort has sufficient gutsy prospers to redeem it.