Blinky Bill The Movie

A big screen outing for the Australian TV series, Blinky Bill follows the eponymous koala as he sets out from the homely Green Patch in search of his adventurer father who went missing a year before. But Blinky (Ryan Kwanten) isn't prepared for such a journey into the unknown and help comes in the form of another koala, Nutsy (McLeavy), whom he saves from a van making for a zoo, and Jacko (Wenham), who has an eye for the 'ladies'. All the while they are stalked by an evil cat (Sewell) while back home Blinky's mum does what she can to stop Mayor Cranklepot (Barry Otto) from taking over Green Patch…

The brainchild of New Zealand-born author Dorothy Hall, who created Blinky in the thirties, this isn't Blinky's first big screen adventure (that accolade lies with a 1992 outing) but this version is more CGI than its predecessor. Events are kept as simple as possible again with writer Fin Edquist keeping the same tone as his last screenplay, Maya The Bee Movie. It's a typical road movie story with Blinky dodging various perils along the way; some, like the Outback store sequence, feel quite episodic however.

But there's enough danger to keep the kids entertained (and that's who this is squarely aimed at – the only gag for the adults here is buried in the expected gush of animal puns: "A reptile dysfunction!") with the crocodile-hopping scene in the eerie Sea of White Dragons and a snazzy escape finale being the standouts. Just in case things get too scary, comic relief comes in the form of Jacko and the twin emus, the silly Beryl and Cheryl (both voiced by Toni Collette). Good-natured and kind-hearted (unless you're a cat lover and once again have to sit through a movie where your favourite pet is the villain), Blinky should entertain the kids until the next Pixar.

Side note: What is it with all these stories about kids (mostly separated from the parents) lost in an alien environment lately? This year we've already had the Jungle Book remake, Tarzan remake, Pete's Dragon, Finding Dory, BFG, When Marnie Was There, Evolution, etc.