Donkey X Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Donkey X Blu-ray Movie Review

Where have I seen a talking donkey before?

Reviewed by Dustin Somner August 28, 2009

I guess it’s inevitable we’d see an up tick in foreign produced animated films following the growing number of successful Hollywood-backed children’s productions of recent years. Not long ago, I was given the opportunity to review a fantastic French gem titled Dragon Hunters, which happened to be released by the same distribution studio as Donkey X (originally titled Donkey Xote). I’d hoped Spain could offer an equally enchanting experience with their first foray into feature-length, computer generated children’s productions, but my hopes were soon dashed as I waded through the surprisingly boring film.

A donkey who dreams of becoming a horse.

Told from the standpoint of Rucio (a donkey with aspirations of one day becoming a horse), the film begins several years after the exploits of Don Quixote, with the famous adventurer and his grumbling squire living relatively routine lives after returning to their hometown. Still longing for adventure, Rucio spends his days trying to persuade Quixote’s feeble steed named Rocinante to join him in his efforts to prompt their masters into returning to a life of adventure (Rucio belongs to Quixote’s squire, Sancho). His wish soon comes true when the town villain reveals a mysterious challenge to Quixote from a warrior known as the Knight of the Moon. Ever since returning from their many adventures, the hero of legends has longed for a mysterious woman named Dulcinea, who appeared briefly to Sancho years before. According to the challenge, the Knight of the Moon will reveal the true identity of Dulcinea to Quixote if he is the champion of their duel, though the flipside of the equation would mean Quixote is stripped of his legendary status. Unable to accept the challenge without the support and company of his long-time friend, Quixote convinces Sancho and Rucio to join him and Rocinante on one last adventure.

To say Donkey X missed the mark would be a gross understatement. For a film that should appeal to young viewers, the convoluted plot, routine characterization and episodic structure should be seen as a major failure. As most of us know, grabbing a child’s attention is a monumental undertaking from the get-go, but in a film with brightly colored characters we’d usually be more concerned with whether it will hold their attention. In the case of Donkey X, there’s nothing to attract a child’s attention in the first place, since the plot will lose youngsters within moments of the initial title screen. Couple that with characters that feel like lame caricatures of other superior Hollywood productions, and you have to ask yourself why you’re wasting your time watching this instead of Cars or A Bug’s Life.

Things don’t improve drastically from an adult standpoint either. I’ve been a longtime fan of the animation medium, so I tend to have a soft spot for the creativity and wonder that accompanies a well-done animated feature. I’m not sure if that interest typically translates into a more critical view, or a tendency to go easy on animated releases, but in this case I can safely say there’s next to nothing redeeming about Donkey X. From a plot standpoint, it felt like three separate stories pieced together into a feature length runtime (it doesn’t help when the director decides to add chapter descriptions that divide the film into 3 parts). In the first act, you have a Pinocchio story of a donkey that wants to become a horse and an unexplained feud between Sancho and Quixote that must be overcome in order for them to set out on their adventure. The second act involves additional conflict between the two adventurers, an overabundance of complaining from Rocinante, and the appearance of a suspicious family claiming to know the identity of Dulcinea. If you’re like me, the second act will be the point when you realize this simply isn’t going to get any better. From that point forward, the events that transpire between the four main characters lack sufficient steam to keep the train going as we plod on to the inevitable conclusion. If you have a watch, get ready to check it time and time again.

Moving along to the animation itself, I was a little underwhelmed by the finished product on display. I never expected Pixar’s level of proficiency in rendering character detail or backgrounds, but I was surprised by the amateur nature of the character models in Spain’s flagship CG production. For example, every character has hair that looks as though it’s made of rigid plastic. The fur on Rucio and Rocinante doesn’t fair much better, though there are at least some prickly textures added to simulate the presence of a mane. Character movement is also hit-and-miss, appearing realistic with slow movement, but atrociously stiff during several action sequences (for a perfect example, watch the fight sequence between Quixote and the Knight of the Moon in the last act). Taken as a whole, the animation quality is better than a television production, but the occasional shining moments rarely eclipse the failures on display.

Donkey X Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 23Mbps), Donkey X has a stunning transfer that offers up an accurate reproduction of the source material. As with most CG-based productions, the film contains sharp lines, bold textures and nicely rendered backgrounds that enhance the 3-D pop of the visuals. I'll once again point out that the animation quality isn't nearly as impressive as what we've come to expect from Dreamworks or Pixar, but the deficiencies have no bearing on the quality of the transfer (and were not a consideration in my video rating). From a color standpoint, the film contains a bright, vibrant palette that's clearly intended to bring out the colorful styles of the Spanish culture. If there's one aspect of the film that's able to capture the fleeting attention of a younger audience, it would be the colorful nature of the animation. Equally impressive, are the use of deep blacks and unflinching contrast in daytime or nighttime sequences. Take a quick look through the screenshots of the nighttime settings and you'll notice perfect variance between the shades of light and dark (especially in the shot of the moon illuminating the valley). Rounding out the positives, I looked extremely close for the presence of any digital anomalies such as artifacting or banding, but never noticed anything out of place. It's become abundantly clear at this stage in the game that Blu-ray is the ideal medium for CG-based animation productions.

Donkey X Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The primary audio offering on the disc is a decent DTS-HD MA 2.0 track dubbed in English. I'm not sure why we're merely given a 2.0 track when the French offering is presented in 5.1, so I'd rank the exclusion of a surround track a significant disappointment. On a positive note, the clarity and volume balance on the track are superb, providing viewers with a rich audio experience. Even elements you don't want to make out with "amazing precision", such as a horse fart will still ring out from the front soundstage as if the horse is standing in the room with you. The dialogue in the film has a tendency to sound a bit plain and uninspired (some of the voice actors seem to be sleepwalking through their roles), which is no fault of the track itself, but worth mentioning as a side note to those with an interest in the overall audio experience. I should also add as a word of warning, that the film contains at least four or five dated pop songs that seem out of place given their stale nature. I'm assuming the selections were the only thing available given the budgetary constraints of the English dub, but I'd have preferred they leave the Spanish musical numbers intact. After all, the lyrics from the American songs had zero bearing on the storyline of the film.

Donkey X Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only extra on the disc is the Donkey X theatrical trailer presented in 1080i (vertically stretched to fill a 1.78:1 aspect ratio).

Donkey X Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Donkey X is a film that never discovers an identity. It's far too adult for children to appreciate, yet never manages to be an appealing experience for adults either. The failure of the film seems to be rooted in the writer's appreciation for the gags and story elements of Hollywood animation productions, though they seem to lack even a basic understanding of what makes those stories endearing to a wide audience. As it stands, this is simply a mishmash of different concepts thrown together without a coherent base to build on. I'd recommend you steer clear of this release and track down a copy of Dragon Hunters instead.