Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

With Easter coming up,I started looking for an animated title that I could get a friend for a gift. Knowing Don Bluth for Land Before Time,I was pleased to stumble on a lesser-known Bluth title,which led to me getting set to see the penguin wobble over to the pebble.The plot:For the mating ritual,a male penguin has to give a woman penguin a pebble before they can become a couple. Having his eye on Marina, Hubie goes to give Marina a special pebble. Wanting Marina for himself,Drake pushes Hubie into the tide. Holding on the pebble,Hubie tries to wish back before Drake finds a pebble for Marina.View on the film:Removing their names after production troubles, directors Don Bluth & Gary Goldman give the title a bold,dark appearance,with the day- glo icecaps of the penguins being trimmed by blocks of darkness lacking detail. Held back a year from coming out,the screenplay by Rachel Koretsky and Stephen Whitestone struggles with the weight of the production troubles,with the rather simple story taking huge,sudden leaps that leave gaps in any real relationship being built between Hubie and Marina,as the pebble sinks into the sea.

Don Bluth is responsible for some real gems of traditional animation. 'The Secret of NIMH' is a dark fantasy tale, 'Anastasia' an adventure reminiscent of 90's Disney, 'The Land Before Time' a beloved classic. His lesser known movies have their charm as well: 'Rock-a-Doodle' was endlessly creative and although a bit too much at places, and 'Thumbelina' had some beautiful animation and a heartwarming story.Not so much 'The Pebble and the Penguin'. It starts promisingly, with a zany and surreal musical number involving musical notation and dancing penguins. But it soon stumbles into a boring mess of dull characters, stupid plot lines, irritating songs and pointless meandering. The backgrounds are nothing amazing, the animation doesn't really stand out and the voice actors, while doing a decent job, get lost in the execution.The movie has its moments: the whimsical magic of the falling green meteorite exactly at the right time or the storm that washes over the ship bound for a zoo. But it's not enough to carry a film. It is so dreadful that Don Bluth pulled his name from the credits so he wouldn't be associated with this mess.

Congratulations, Bluth, Goldman, Manilow & Co. ! This movie is actually the ancestor of Youtube Poop !Who knew ? I have to say that I've been foolish to despise this little masterpiece all these years !You actually managed to achieve : 1°/ the most incoherent editing in all history of animated feature films (no story continuity, completely void of rhythm, same color charts all along the movie etc.) 2°/ to write a script based on no particular storyline (except of course these couple vague sub-plots that you mixed in a huge mishmash in order to somehow make the movie last 90 minutes) 3° / to assemble the biggest array of disposable bland excuses for characters, before Dingo Pictures thought about it (now that's something !) 4° / to compose the dumbest non-melodic songs in all movie history (even lamer than the ones in the worst Disney movies - if this isn't genius !) 5° / to draw the most hermaphrodite character designs ever (sorry, I still can't tell the girls from the guys in this picture)Not bad, I think ! Apart from point n°5, this movie has actually gathered all the basic ingredients you need to make a good Youtube Poop video.Except Youtube poops are intentionally funny. This movie isn't.If you haven't seen it - don't bother.

Don Bluth made some wonderful films (Secret of NIMH, Land Before Time, An American Tail, just to name a few.) But as he went on with success, he suddenly tossed out some really STRANGE films. And I'm talking strange. These films are Rock-A-Doodle, Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, and Pebble and the Penguin.So, Pebble and the Penguin is what we're looking over today. If it's apart of the "Strange" family, then we're gonna be in some trouble.PatP is about a penguin named Hubie, who is in love with the penguin Marina. He wants to propose to her, but the evil penguin Drake wants Marina for his own. Hubie finds a beautiful stone that he can use to propose to Marina. But Drake almost kills him and Hubie sails away on an iceberg where he meets Rocko, a tough penguin who constantly tries to escape the S.S Misery. The two penguins manage to escape, form a friendship, endure some enemies here and there, and finally get back to Antartica to save Marina from marrying Drake. That's the plot, ladies and gentlemen.What do I think of it? I was watching it the other day, and every twenty minutes or so, I would just stop the movie and change it to something else. I couldn't take it. I don't know what it really was at first, was it the voice acting? The annoying characters? The plot? I couldn't put my finger on it, but as I turned it on again, and after about fifteen minutes, I turned it off...I figured it out.The MUSIC.The first song is practically NEVER-ENDING, and you just keep asking yourself "Are they still SINGING?" The second song is boring, can't capture the rhythm of anything, and is even a bit obnoxious. The third song, sung by the penguins on the S.S Misery, is just disgusting...and I'm being nice when I call it disgusting. Really. Listen to the song and see how you react. It's badly sung to the point of wanting to rip your ears out. I think the only song I could tolerate was "Don't Make Me Laugh", sung by Drake...and well, I think I know why: because it's Tim Curry. And Tim Curry seems to steal the show often with song. It's because he's an AMAZING singer. I have to ask how he agreed to do this film, though...maybe to show us that he can take a bad movie and make it better with that song.I also highly dislike the main character. I understand they're taking a clumsy guy and turning him strong, but seriously, this GUY is annoying! And he also lies, too. Every kid wants to look up to a liar, right? There are also a bazillion things never explained. For example, how on EARTH can Hubie suddenly see what Marina is doing with his pebble? Is it suddenly a crystal ball? It's never explained! If they said something like "Oh, this is a magic pebble that acts like a crystal ball." then I would leave this alone, but it just sort of...happens! There were FEW parts I enjoyed...like the part where Rocko is strangling Hubie.Overall....a movie that is slightly below average, with terrible music (except Tim Curry's song!!), and many things NEVER EXPLAINED. I think kids will like it, but that's it. Kids. This film was made for kids, so they don't have to point out the big mistakes in this movie. If you're older than about seven, you won't like this film.