Jungledyret Hugo – which roughly translates as Hugo the Jungle animal – is a good example of entertaining animation. It even survives that bane of foreign films in that its dub is actually rather good (though this might have more to do with the fact that English and Dannish share roots in Germanic, I dunno). For the record I have seen both the original Dannish and the English versions and my biggest wish for the later was that it had been uncut and still in its original widescreen ratio.

Anyway.

The film centres on Hugo, a cute, yellow-furred and ultra rare species of jungle animal which looks something like a Koloa. Those first few qualities get him into the attentions of the main villains, starting of the chain of events that affect Hugo: the most significant being his interactions with street fox Rita.

The early Nineties was a great time for animation, and not just for the USA, Europe also had its fair share of decent animation made during this period. Jungledyret Hugo was one of these and is a decent, above average film. Though at times it seems a bit like one long TV episode or a special, but it works well enough to pass the time, just the thing for a rainy day.

Hugo is a light-hearted musical, with a number of upbeat numbers which – in the English version – might grate on the nerves a bit, not a lot but they can be a bit too cheesy for some. Personally I quite liked the songs in spite of myself, they’ve got a bit of bounce in them, some are better than others, but none of them are really terrible.

It’s also one of those films where you follow a character around while he or she meets various other characters. Generally the undeveloped type or stereotype or something of that nature. Hugo meets plenty of characters over the course of the film and few of them make any lasting impression. Thankfully the characters that matter have a bit more personality; Hugo comes across as a lovable con artist who is out mostly to have fun and Rita does come across as someone who has lived in the city her entire life.

The animation has a sketchy look, with pencil lines showing through at times like a Xerox era Disney film. Nonetheless it is well animated, though there isn’t much in the way of truly standout animation. And that is kind of the film’s problem as a whole, because apart from Hugo’s cute design there’s almost nothing that really grabs you and makes you pay attention to the film.

Those not looking for the outstanding will find the film to be a somewhat enjoyable experience and worth a look. The sequel’s pretty good to, and a bit darker.