Zambezia (2012)

Set in a bustling bird city on the edge of the majestic Victoria Falls, "Zambezia" is the story of Kai - a naïve, but high-spirited young falcon who travels to the bird city of "Zambezia" ... See full summary »

Director:

Wayne Thornley

Writers:

Camilla Bubna-Kasteliz (script editor), Andrew Cook (screenplay),

Stars:

Leonard Nimoy, Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonard Nimoy	...	Sekhuru (voice)
Jeremy Suarez	...	Kai (voice)
Abigail Breslin	...	Zoe (voice)
Jeff Goldblum	...	Ajax (voice)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Tendai (voice)
Jenifer Lewis	...	Gogo (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Budzo / Marabous (voice)
Jamal Mixon	...	Ezee (voice)
Richard E. Grant	...	Cecil (voice)
David Shaughnessy	...	Morton (voice)
Noureen DeWulf	...	Pavi (voice)
Tania Gunadi	...	Tini (voice)
Deep Roy	...	Mushana (voice)
Phil LaMarr	...	Announcer Bird (voice)
Kristen Rutherford	...	Gossip Bird 2 (voice)

Storyline

Set in a bustling bird city on the edge of the majestic Victoria Falls, "Zambezia" is the story of Kai - a naïve, but high-spirited young falcon who travels to the bird city of "Zambezia" where he discovers the truth about his origins and, in defending the city, learns how to be part of a community.

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Plot Keywords:

bird | falcon | one word title | place name in title | city name in title

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Taglines:

They'll have to wing it... in this bird city!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

South Africa

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zambezija

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Management Group, The Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, The National Film and Video Foundation of SA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Neville and his wife are Lilian's lovebirds.

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Quotes

Cecil: Not very in my book. Which is precisely, why we should accept Budzo's proposal.
Marabous: Since when a Marabou servants to a lizard?
Morton: He's got a point!
Cecil: We will be working with Budzo, thickhead, not FOR Budzo! We are partners in this great endeavour!
Morton: Teamwork!
Cecil: We help Budzo get on the island, we share all the goodies!
[Cecil Laughs, so does Morton]
Morton: I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
[Gets slapped by Cecil]
Marabous: Ummm, question! Could those hurricanes be a problem?
[...]

User Reviews

Really not as bad as you may think

'Zambezia', the new south African animated film is an obvious low budget animated feature, you wont see any ads on TV, and the animation looks 10 years old, but that's no reason to straight away hate on Zambezia, it's not one of those dubbed foreign trashy animated movies which have no single thing put into them apart from making money. Zambezia has a story, a plot, good characters. When it wants you to take it seriously you will take it seriously. When it wants you to laugh you will not be sitting there rolling your eyes.

The movie is another one of those typical 'parent letting go of child' kind of animated movies, which is possibly the most cliché type of character development seen in any kids movie. But I guess there's good reason for the situation, it just doesn't have it thrown in to make a plot (hint hint Ice Age 4). But I thought the characters were good, not really that deep, but good, nothing to really complain about.

The movie has a nice soundtrack, and I thought the visuals of the landscape were absolutely brilliant. The humour isn't bad, with a lot of jokes that hit. Nothing laugh out loud funny of course, but still much better than the humour in 'Ice Age 4'.

There are some obvious similaries to 'Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole' and possibly the movie was made with the intention to 'duel' Rio, but it still has originality, the bad guy for one, is new, and intimidating enough to be a good villain.

Zambezia is a perfectly good movie for kids and adults, there's nothing wrong with it at all really, and it actually kind of surprised me. I think this movie takes much more risks than 'Ice Age 4', 'Rio', and many other current animated films.

Go and see it, have a good time.