By Liz Lopez
Rating: B+
While the greater U. S. audiences may not be familiar with the company Huevo Cartoon, in early 2002 they launched an animated series with egg shaped characters to carry out satirical stories. The creators do not shy away from diverse social and cultural aspects and do so in a humorous and irreverent manner. As the company has grown, it has released two feature films in Mexico. Their third Spanish language animated film, Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos, had a theatrical release in Mexico last month and now Pantelion Films is distributing the film in the USA. I was able to view the film on the big screen and just about fell out of my chair a couple of times with the humor and how they mock certain activities and lifestyles.
The film is in Spanish, but it is sub-titled throughout to understand the plight of the farm animals. They discover the elderly widow who owns the farm is in debt and about to lose the property. They do not want to become homeless or even worse, become property of the crooked rancher who thrives on the misery of others. Director and writer Gabriel Riva Palacio Alatriste, along with his animation team, has created a very entertaining story – soft enough for young audiences – but clever enough for adults to enjoy the humor and understand who and what in the broader community they are highlighting.
Toto (voiced by Bruno Bichir) is a young chicken who has not found his voice to crow and has not had to carry much responsibility on the farm yet. He is infatuated with Di (Maite Perroni), but he is too shy to tell her and yet Di sees him as her dream and future. An evil rancher has a plan to overtake struggling farmers land and property and soon, Toto’s home – and that of his and other families – will soon be gone. Although Di’s father has ruled the roost and fought the good fight in the past, Toto is next in line save the day and he is not in any way, shape or form ready to do so.
Needless to say, you will identify certain scenes and music as Toto begins to train for the role he has to take and only has two weeks to do so. Not only is the humor good, but so is the music by Zacarías M. de la Riva and others in the Music Department. They have done an excellent job with the song selection and placement in this film. There is one song in particular that I love how they arranged it for this film and I will not reveal it – just go see the film and enjoy!
Other voice cast includes Angelica Vale, Omar Chaparro, Ninel Conde, Carlos Espejel among others.
The film is rated PG-13 for its suggestive content.
SOURCE: Huevocartoon.com and IMDb