Epic

Epic (2013) is about a girl who has kept her distance from her father because he believes there are tiny people in the forest. When she comes home she finds out he was right, because she shrinks and falls into that world. She lands in the middle of a war between the Leafmen who protect the forest and the Boggans who rot it. The source is William Joyce's children's book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. Joyce was involved in the production as well. Chris Wedge directed. He made Ice Age and helped found Blue Sky Studios. The best thing here is the idea of scale: a drop of water has weight, a leaf is a platform, birds are transport. The whole design is built on that difference in size. Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz and Beyoncé are among the voices. It runs 102 minutes. Good for: visually rich children's animation, fantasy set in nature, and playing with scale. Less good for: the story is familiar and never escapes the chosen one template. The comic snail double act breaks the tone, and the father and daughter reach their reconciliation too easily.