Crysta (Samantha Mathis) is a rebellious teenager that thinks she knows it all and Magi (Grace Zabriskie ) is her wise, patient teacher of fairy magic. Crysta wants to learn, but is distracted with all the forest has to offer her and her best friend, Pips (Christian Slater). Crysta one day goes beyond the canopy of the rain forest and sees the sky for the first time, along with a big line of smoke going up to it. She runs to Magi to tell her what she saw and is disappointed when she learns its pollution and it is ruining the forest.
When she comes back home she encounters a confused bat, Batty (Robin Williams), just escaped from a grad students’ laboratory. She wants to go investigate the humans at Mount Warning but batty tries to stop her; when he can’t he goes with her as protection.
When she gets there, Mount Warning is a cleared off area where humans have marked an “X” on the trees they are going to chop down. The two bosses behind the project are two simple-minded young guys with five o’clock shadows snacking on doughnuts while pushing buttons to rid the trees. Zak (Jonathan Ward), their employee, unknowingly sees the ancient tree that holds Hexxus and marks it with an “X”. Crysta tries to bother Zak so he doesn’t touch Hexxus, but Zak mistakes her for a fly and captures her in his hands. In a spell gone wrong, Crysta shrinks him to her size. Crysta tries to return him to his normal size but is still working on her magic skills. Unable to do it, they begin their journey back to Fern Gully to find Magi.
While on their way, Zak’s friends from work manage to tear down the large black tree and release Hexxus. Hexxus is a deep-voiced shapeless, black formation who introduces himself through a jazz song called “Toxic Love”. He takes over the PA system and instructs the employees to go straight to Fern Gully and take down the trees there.
Crysta and Zak finally make it back to Fern Gully and she introduces him to all the other fairies. In front of all of the fairies, Crysta discovers that Zak is responsible for the ruining of the forest. With remorse, Zak warns them to leave Fern Gully to escape the humans and Hexxus. In the battle between the forces of nature and the forces of pollution, Zak is able to stop the leveler and save Fern Gully and the fairies. Crysta establishes herself as a grown-up fairy when she contains Hexxus in a new tree. Zak and Crysta reunite and she returns Zak to his normal size. Once he finds his friends, he begins to tell them that their actions need to change.
Fern Gully is fun, pro-environment propaganda for the whole family. The animation is distinctively different from Disney and goes places where Disney is too afraid to go. The images in the beginning are scary and vivid and Hexxus is an interesting villain; with only a voice and a color to identify it with, it is probably one of the most intimidating villains from the 1990’s. The new HD version, with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, is awesome. The dream like drawings are enhanced and it is better than I remembered. If it sounds a lot like Avatar, it’s because it is. This is the PG, almost-educational, Avatar for kids.
Special Features:
– Commentary with Director Bill Kroyer, Art Director Ralph Eggleston, and coordinating Art Director Susan Kroyer
– Seed of the Story: Script-to-Screen comparison with Optional Commentary by Screenwriter Jim Cox
– From Paper to Tree: Making-of Featurette
– Behind the Voice: Toxic Love- Multi-Angle Scene Study
– Original Featurette (1992)
– Music Video: “If I’m Gonna Eat Somebody (It Might As Well Be You)”
– Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots
