Spirit of the Forest (2008) Espíritu del bosque (original title)

Popularity:

Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

David Rubin

Writer:

Beatriz Iso (script)

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Animation | Family

Plot:

A group of forest animals band together to stop a villainous group of exterminators from making a highway through their forest.

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

María Adánez	...	Linda (voice)
Sean Astin	...	Furi (voice: English version)
Anjelica Huston	...	Mrs. D'Abondo (voice: English version)
Juan Ibáñez Pérez	...	Hoho (voice) (as Trancas y Barrancas)
Luis Merlo	...	Cebolo (voice)
Damián Molla Herman	...	Huhu (voice) (as Trancas y Barrancas)
Ron Perlman	...	Oak (voice: English version)
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Cebolo (voice: English version)

Directed by
David Rubin

Writing credits
Beatriz Iso		(script)

Produced by
Manolo Gómez	....	executive producer
Manolo Gómez	....	producer
Lucas Mackey	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michael Giacchino

Film Editing by
Juan Galiñanes

Casting by
Dawn Hershey		(english language version)
Richard Hicks		(english language version)
David Rubin		(english language version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Juan Galiñanes	....	assistant director

Art Department
Juan Ramón Pou	....	animator

Sound Department
David W. Barr	....	dialogue recording engineer
Pablo Beade	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pablo Beade	....	supervising sound editor
Jorge Colado	....	sound designer
Jorge Colado	....	sound effects editor
Yvonne Miralles	....	foley recordist
Edgar Vidal	....	foley designer
Kiku Vidal	....	foley artist
Ricardo Viñas	....	dolby sound consultant

Visual Effects by
Rubén Ares	....	visual effects supervisor
Guadalupe Fernández	....	lighting supervisor
María Lodeiro	....	set-up and rigging supervisor

Animation Department
Galder Apraiz	....	lighting artist
Lorena Ares	....	animator
Miquel Cabot	....	animator
Carmen Chenza	....	animator (as Chenza Sanchez)
Julio Díez	....	animation director
Fernando Falero	....	character animator
Cristian Franganillo Parrado	....	lighting artist
Hector Godoy Garcia	....	animator
Alberto Rodriguez Moure	....	animator
Juan Miguel Vadell	....	animator
Javier Vazquez	....	animator
Rafa Zas	....	layout artist

Casting Department
Greg Crescimanno	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Enrique Jiménez	....	telecine colorist

Other crew
Andrea Dopico	....	production coordinator
Esteban Ferreño Suárez	....	tools development (as Esteban Ferreño)

Production Companies

• Dygra Films S.L.
• Fantastic Films International

Distributors

• Fantastic Films International (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Manga Films (2008) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2010) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Intersonic (2008) (Czech Republic) (DVD)
• Screen Media Ventures

Other Companies

• Nupera Group, The  producer's representative
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix

Also Known As:

"Espíritu del bosque" - Spain (original title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild action and rude humor

Runtime:

Argentina:90 min | Spain:90 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:PG (certificate #46162)

Filming Locations:

Spain

Company:

Dygra Films S.L.

Movie Connections:

Follows The Living Forest (2001)

Don't be lured in by a high IMDb rating, like we were

I think anyone who rated this above about a 2 must have seen the cast, rented it for their kids and left the room.

My family spent the first ten minutes watching the movie trying to figure out what the blue critter was. No ears, a stubby tail, giant cheeks, and blue. Is it a graphic representation of the "spirit of the forest?" Then how come it's so clumsy and incompetent? Finally one of the characters referenced it by name, oh, it's a gopher. Nope, probably never would have figured that out.

The animation is awful, it looks like the outtakes from another movie, before the final animation layer was applied.

The dialog, or translation of it from the original language, is trite and distractingly odd. I could forgive the occasional weird comment, but the whole movie is a series of weird comments. Several scenes were nearly disgusting or curiously inappropriate, I kept thinking I was going to have to cover my kid's eyes, but then at the last minute it turned and just skirted the edge.

The characters aren't anyone I'd care about, when the two flies were swallowed by a cat, and I was so happy! I wouldn't have to endure them anymore! Unfortunately their adventures continued.

About 45 minutes into the movie my husband and I were finding it so unbearable we paused it to ask the kids if they still wanted to watch. Our 9 year old agreed she didn't like the movie but the 7 year old wanted to see what happened, for about ten more minutes, then she confessed she didn't care either. We watched to the end on x4 speed, which is how I'd recommend watching this movie.

Yes, in the English version the voices are done by a wonderful cast. But that doesn't make up for everything else this movie falls short in.