Post by StevePulaski on Mar 15, 2015 22:50:02 GMT -5
Quest for Camelot (1998)
Directed by: Frederik Du Chau
Directed by: Frederik Du Chau
The evil Ruber in Quest for Camelot.
Rating: ★½
In the 1990's, large, industry conglomerates, in an attempt to dethrone Walt Disney as the ringleader in animation, were creating divisions of their company dedicated to releasing animated films that would optimistically create lucrative hits for the studio as a whole. I cite this specific reason as to why, whether it seems I'm actively searching or not, I constantly find a great deal of little-known, animated relics from that time period that were either financial failures or simply films that have aged with no pop culture footprint to show whatsoever. Quest for Camelot is an intriguing little footnote for this time period, as it pretty much bears all the reasons Walt Disney's impacting animated films were frequently imitated but never duplicated or matched, at least during that time, in terms of quality.
The film feels like it was written from a template for animated films that revolves around the same basic hero and villain structure, boasting everything from cheap side characters offering comic relief, relatively unremarkable animation, and unmemorable songs. We focus on Kayley (voiced by Jessalyn Gilsig), who ventures out as a young girl to Camelot to meet King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. While there, she is acquainted with the greedy knight Baron Ruber (Gary Oldman), who attempts to assume all the powers brought forth by a sword by the name of Excalibur. Fast-forward ten years later, Excalibur has been stolen, and Kayley teams up with Garrett (Cary Elwes), a blind knight and Devon and Cornwall (Eric Idle and Don Rickles), a two-headed dragon that reminds one of Zak and Wheezie from Dragon Tales (I can't believe I'm making that kind of reference) to recover the stolen sword.
Quest for Camelot has all the cliches and predictabilities one can think of in an animated film. Spliced infrequently amongst the zippy action of the film are indeed musical numbers that are just drenched with worn messages and uninspired lyricism, hopelessly showcasing how not only thrown together this project was from the get-go, but written without heart and wit to accompany them. One of the reason Disney succeeds so overwhelmingly with their animated films is they throw in thoughtful themes, great characters, and engaging stories, and, most importantly, are written, directed, and animated by people who clearly love animation and care about making a great product. Testimonials from Quest's crew have stated how working to create the film was more like an exercise granted by people who foolishly assumed creating an animated film was a fool's errand that could be done by anyone. With that, what was created was one of the most perfunctory animated films I can think of, not only robbed of any creativity, but any kind of soul to speak of whatsoever.
The animation, even for traditional, hand-drawn standards, looks very mediocre. To think Toy Story, one of the most revolutionary animated films ever made, was three years old when this film came out is an astounding thought, and even as Quest for Camelot tries to blend old animated styles with newer, glossier ones, it simply fires back in the film's face, looking even more ugly. It was the awkward period between the old and the new, meaning bigger players were free to make bigger moves thanks to their more impressive technology (Disney, Pixar in this case) and those with cheaper, older animation were forced to make due with what they had from a technology standpoint. While some companies and projects worked to do what they could with what they had, Quest for Camelot's mediocre animation perfectly compliments a tired story.
Finally, there's the problem that lies with the characters. Besides Kayley and Garrett being two of the most unremarkable animated heroes, Ruber has a seriously stunted, nonexistent personality, even for a villain. A large chunk of the film sees him absent, completely ridding the film of any kind of suspense from an antagonistic side, leaving an already soulless, empty film even more gutted of any emotional connection.
Quest for Camelot is a shockingly cold film, and given how much happens in seventy-seven minutes, it's all the more shocking to note how boring most of the film is. The entire film is a curious failure of underestimating the success of an empire and thinking their success is simply luck and a few computers.
Voiced by: Jessalyn Gilsig, Cary Elwes, Jane Seymour, Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman, Eric Idle, Don Rickles, Bronson Pinchot, Jaleel White, Gabriel Byrne, and John Gielgud. Directed by: Frederik Du Chau.