I’m a sucker for animated movies. I know their intended audience members are about 15 years younger than me, but I can’t help loving cartoon toys, fish, and princesses. This week, we’re talking about the animated girls and aliens of Dreamwork’s Home.
Home tells the story of a misfit Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons), an adorable little alien who changes colors with his emotions. When the Boov invade Earth (running away from their enemy, the poorly-veiled-Star-Trek-reference known as the Gorg), they relocate all humans to “Human Happy Town” in Australia. All humans, that is, except for a little girl named Tip (Rihanna). Oh and Tip team up to find her mom and avoid the rest of the bumbling Boov.
The first thing that strikes me about Home is simply how gosh-darn adorable it is. I mean, just watch this:
The Boov speak English, yes, but they haven’t exactly figured out grammar yet, making the same mistakes with plurals and irregular verbs a four year old would. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my Psychology of Language class, it’s that four year olds making basic grammar mistakes is adorable.
The cuteness draws you in, but there’s a lot more to Home than hilarious alien antics. Aside from Oh, our main character is Tip Tucci, a young girl who was having a rough enough time being an immigrant and a middle schooler… and then her mom gets kidnapped by aliens. She isn’t stereotyped into what some 40-year-old white man thinks a young black girl would act like. She isn’t caricaturized or sexualized. Tip is allowed to be a tween, and she’s allowed to feel all those real-life chaotic emotions that tweens feel. She’s upset and angry, cries and lashes out, as Oh would say, she’s “sad-mad.”
Home also does a remarkably good job delivering its message — accepting people who stand out, as well as the importance of family. So often I finish an animated movie feeling like I’ve been beaten over the head by some social justice warrior (I’m looking at you, Wall-E and Zootopia). Home certainly has its messages, but it manages to weave them organically into the plot and the characters. It isn’t a forced “This is what you should think/do!” It’s more of a “Hey, look at what happened to these people.”
On top of delivering the message well, it’s just a plain great message. Oh tried to throw a party, even though the Boov don’t throw parties. Tip had trouble with the transition from Barbados to New York City. Tip always had her mom to depend on, while Oh and the other Boov never had the chance to know their parents. The idea of outsiders and family permeates this story at every level, taking an adorable movie and making it into an adorable and touching movie.
So in summary: If you like cute aliens and well-represented tween girls and a wonderful message, you should watch Home. If you don’t, well, why on earth don’t you?
(Also, Netflix is making a TV show continuation of this and I am just so excited.)
Image credits: joanadoe.tumblr.com; ideas.wikia.com; ranker.com; Netflix.com