The Point

Director - Fred Wolf (Strawberry Shortcake, The Wuzzles)

Starring - Ringo Starr (Alice in Wonderland, Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Paul Frees (The Return of the King, Wonder Woman), and Mike Lookinland (The Brady Bunch, The Towering Inferno)

Release Date - 1971

Genre - Adventure

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Over the years I've talked about my childhood in my reviews.  I like to connect with the movies before I review them that way the reader can get some sort of connection with me and why I felt the way I did with the film I'm reviewing.  As a child I grew up in front of the television.  Cartoons, movies, documentaries, it didn't matter.  I watched anything and everything as a kid.  I remember being very little when I watch The Point for the first time.  It was a fun little animated flick but as I got older I didn't remember a lot about it.  Hell, I forgot about the film until MVD announced their release of the film on blu as part of their Rewind Collection.  I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send a copy my way.  Thanks guys!

     The film follows Oblio (Lookinland) who was born with a round head in the village of people with pointy heads.  He's often picked on and bullied and eventually forced out of the village for being different.  On his adventures through the pointless forest he discovers many different types of people, as well as, his sense of worth.

     The Point isn't the pinnacle of animation and it's not the most original story but it's fun for what it is.  It's a children's story written by a man tripping on acid.  That's pretty fucking wild if you ask me.  It's even better when you consider that the film has three different versions with different narrators.  The video release of the film has Ringo Starr while the cable cut of the film has Alan Thicke narrating.  When I watched this for the first time I was watching the Alan Thicke version.  Regardless, it's not the most amazing animated film but it's still a fun watch.  The voice acting in this one is fun.  The voices match up pretty well for the characters but having the same voice actor portraying different characters without changing their voice was a little confusing and lazy.  Several of the cast members voiced multiple characters but they never tries to change their voice.  A lot of different animated films and shows recycled voice actors for different characters but they used their voices to create different characters.  The Point doesn't do that.  We get the same voice for different characters.  The story for this one is a solid enough children's adventure tale following a kid that's different as he learns his place in life.  It may have been inspired by an acid trip but it still speaks to children.  It's perfect for kids that are bullied, born different, coming to terms with their sexual identities, and so forth.  It's very relevant but it's not the most original even for 1971.  There has been countless other shows and movies aimed for children with similar stories.  Finally, the animation for this one is unique but not something that sticks with you.  I like the animation style used for the film but a lot of the younger generations would not appreciate it as much as us older generations do.  Overall, The Point is a fun watch especially if you've never seen it before.  The blu from MVD looks great and I love that they took the time to put this release together.  Their work as preserving underrated and obscure films is top notch.  Be sure to add this one to your collection.