There are the standard things that make you feel old: children, nostalgia, fads … and then there’s Alyson Hannigan as an estranged parent. Sure, I never watched “How I Met Your Mother,” but when did Alyson Hannigan become a seasoned adult? Geez, how old am I? Old enough to linger in a place where Willow Rosenberg is forever. Alas.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has nothing to do with Flora & Ulysses. This is a Disney film about a squirrel with a comic book hero arc. I suppose it’s like “Buffy” except for the lack of Buffy, vampires, cleverness, or –you know- fun.
I kid. I have no doubt a certain subset of humanity will love this film; perhaps children who have yet to be exposed to superhero films or adore the idea of befriending a squirrel. Flora & Ulysses might prove magical to an undereducated set. There’s nothing wrong with that … for now.
Flora (Matilda Lawler) is an adorable little girl with a hysterically blind friend. Hysterical blindness is a really weird condition to introduce to your children. I’d sooner expose young children to bulimia or chlamydia. William (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is a curiously unattended child for a blind kid. “Well, gosh, no point in supervising him; how much trouble could a blind kid get up to on his own, anyway?” But, hey, I’m missing the entire story. Flora finds squirrel. Vacuum sucks squirrel. Flora revives squirrel. Flora insists squirrel now has super powers. I quibble with both “super” and “powers,” but that’s another story. Squirrel gets dubbed Ulysses. “Adventures” ensue.
Ms. Hannigan is
Flora’s writer’s-block mom. Ben Schwarz is Flora’s estranged and oft misdirected father. Danny Pudi shows up for animal control, cuz the story needs a villain, I guess. Oh, and there’s a psychotic cat. It’s pretty funny, but a violent uncontrollable animal might be too much for roughly a quarter of the target audience. There’s also a hilarious Jack and Rose moment for, I dunno, me, maybe? Something for your Titanic-nostalgic mother to enjoy while she’s letting this film play babysitter.
Biggest problem here is the film is asking semi-super squirrel here to carry a pretty preponderance of the plot … and I’m afraid Ulysses still has a ways to go to even crack my top five squirrels – Rocky of “Rocky & Bullwinkle” obviously tops the list. But let’s not forget “Secret Squirrel” or the squirrel Kronk befriends at the end of The Emperor’s New Groove, or the caffeine-addled messenger in Hoodwinked, or that jerk Will Arnett voices in Nut Job, or whatever Scrat is from Ice Age. Look, Ulysses, to me you’re sorta acceptable in a very “meh” way. For the less-discerning audience, sure, love the super squirrel, love the psychotic cat, say, “Hi” to Alyson for me; she’s still lovely whatever her age.
A super squirrel and a plot rather porous
Perform the usual to a standard Disney chorus
Yet for entertaining deeds
I‘ll tell you what that rodent needs
A pal moose and a villain named “Boris”
Rated PG, 95 Minutes
Director: Lena Khan
Writer: Brad Copeland
Genre: Taking a premise too far
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Friends of squirrels
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Friends of Animal Control
