The Raggedy Ann books were a beloved series created by illustrator Johnny Gruelle, so much so that there were even a few cartoon adaptations by Paramount in the 1940s (one of which I even reviewed). So, fast forward to the 1970s, when both the Bobbs-Merrill company and master animator Richard Williams made the first ever animated feature based on the aforementioned doll and friends, complete with a slew of highly talented animators on board like Tissa David, Art Babbitt, Hal Ambro, Charlie Downs, Emery Hawkins, Gerry Chiniquy, Corny Cole, Chrystal Klabunde, Tom Sito, etc. Unfortunately, like many of his past projects, Williams was removed by the end of production due to going over budget and behind schedule, although he still received director's credit in the final cut. It doesn't help that the movie wasn't really a hit with the public, and after seeing it, I can see why.
Before I enter the negatives, the main highlight of the whole feature is the animation, if the aforementioned crew didn't already give it away. Each character is well defined by their designs and movements to give them personalities, especially when it comes to how Raggedy Ann and Andy look and move as rag dolls. Even when the movie gets ridiculously trippy, that's when the visuals really ooze with creativity and there's not one moment that doesn't show the animator's unbelievably hard work on screen. One particular scene featuring a gluttonous sludge creature who endlessly consumes candy called the Greedy is practically Emery Hawkins' magnum opus. The usage of color is also quite gorgeous to view, whether the scheme be shadowy or saturated. The only major issue with the animation is that at times the editing can be way too rapid and there's not much of a reason for Ann and Andy's owner Marcella to be live-action.
That being said though, when it comes to the narrative, this is where the movie becomes strangely problematic. The basic storyline is that Raggedy Ann and Andy must rescue their new playmate Babette from Marcella's snow globe character, Captain Contagious, out in the forest. Now the first half of the movie is a little slow but it at least sets up who each character is and helps the audience understand the contrast between Marcella's reality and the toys'. However, once Ann and Andy go on their journey beyond the woods to rescue Babette, that's when the movie loses all fragments of reality and becomes similar to Alice in Wonderland. The main issue with all the wackiness that occurs is that there's no proper context of where Ann and Andy go to, making the movie's madness come off as irritatingly surreal. Even the climax becomes so ludicrous that one will have to breathe to wonder what the heck they just watched. If Ann and Andy are real dolls, one can only wonder what form of reality they even enter upon their journey.
In addition, most of the characters are rather bland and generic, and if it weren't for their luscious movements, they'd be far less interesting. The least interesting characters throughout are unfortunately Raggedy Ann and Andy, as they just move from place to place meeting strange characters that get more focus, leaving them nothing to do besides moving the plot forward. Sure Andy does start off as a rather tough cookie who's sick of being a girl's toy, but he never develops outside of that, making him two-dimensional. Even the strange characters Ann and Andy meet aren't that memorable outside of their quirks, especially King Koo Koo who has little significance outside of wanting to grow by laughing at others. The two notable characters who do gain some development are Babette and the camel with the wrinkled knees, as they go from being either snobby or depressed to being either courageous or happy because of who they meet. The captain also counts as he goes from being stubbornly obsessive to realizing the errors of his ways. Outside of that though, most of the characters leave much to be desired.
As for the musical numbers done by the wonderful Joe Raposo, they're rather hit or miss and there may even be a bit too much of them. Most of Ann's songs like "I Look, and What Do I See?" and "Rag Dolly" set her existence up well but they kind of sound the same. "Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers" establishes Ann and Andy's loving relation as siblings, but it moves at too slow a pace and becomes rather dreary after a while. The best songs like "No Girl's Toy", "Poor Babette", "Blue", "I Never Get Enough" and "I Love You" are memorable either because of their upbeat and lively tempo and vocals, zany visuals, bittersweet character moments, or because they're just looney. However, as stated before, there are too many of them and the movie would have really benefited with fewer, since some of them stop the movie dead in its tracks even more than the zany antics. Keep in mind, this movie has about 13 musical numbers; even Disney would say that's too much.
You know, after seeing this, I don't think I'd like to go on any more adventures with Raggedy Ann again anytime soon. Needless to say, Raggedy Ann & Andy is one of the weirdest animated features I've ever seen, mainly for the bizarre visuals and random shenanigans with no proper context whatsoever. Sadly, the insanity is the only memorable aspect of the movie, because without it, the film would still be left with a thin story, a majority of flat characters and hit-or-miss musical numbers. Personally, I'd only recommend this to those who are really into movies with more emphasis on trippy visual madness than plot or if you'd like to see what else Richard Williams did outside of Roger Rabbit or The Thief & the Cobbler. It really is sad to see so many highly professional artists and animators working on such a second rate feature with no logic at all, but at least a really interesting book came out of it (feel free to check out John Canemaker's book The Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy if you please).
Before I enter the negatives, the main highlight of the whole feature is the animation, if the aforementioned crew didn't already give it away. Each character is well defined by their designs and movements to give them personalities, especially when it comes to how Raggedy Ann and Andy look and move as rag dolls. Even when the movie gets ridiculously trippy, that's when the visuals really ooze with creativity and there's not one moment that doesn't show the animator's unbelievably hard work on screen. One particular scene featuring a gluttonous sludge creature who endlessly consumes candy called the Greedy is practically Emery Hawkins' magnum opus. The usage of color is also quite gorgeous to view, whether the scheme be shadowy or saturated. The only major issue with the animation is that at times the editing can be way too rapid and there's not much of a reason for Ann and Andy's owner Marcella to be live-action.
That being said though, when it comes to the narrative, this is where the movie becomes strangely problematic. The basic storyline is that Raggedy Ann and Andy must rescue their new playmate Babette from Marcella's snow globe character, Captain Contagious, out in the forest. Now the first half of the movie is a little slow but it at least sets up who each character is and helps the audience understand the contrast between Marcella's reality and the toys'. However, once Ann and Andy go on their journey beyond the woods to rescue Babette, that's when the movie loses all fragments of reality and becomes similar to Alice in Wonderland. The main issue with all the wackiness that occurs is that there's no proper context of where Ann and Andy go to, making the movie's madness come off as irritatingly surreal. Even the climax becomes so ludicrous that one will have to breathe to wonder what the heck they just watched. If Ann and Andy are real dolls, one can only wonder what form of reality they even enter upon their journey.
In addition, most of the characters are rather bland and generic, and if it weren't for their luscious movements, they'd be far less interesting. The least interesting characters throughout are unfortunately Raggedy Ann and Andy, as they just move from place to place meeting strange characters that get more focus, leaving them nothing to do besides moving the plot forward. Sure Andy does start off as a rather tough cookie who's sick of being a girl's toy, but he never develops outside of that, making him two-dimensional. Even the strange characters Ann and Andy meet aren't that memorable outside of their quirks, especially King Koo Koo who has little significance outside of wanting to grow by laughing at others. The two notable characters who do gain some development are Babette and the camel with the wrinkled knees, as they go from being either snobby or depressed to being either courageous or happy because of who they meet. The captain also counts as he goes from being stubbornly obsessive to realizing the errors of his ways. Outside of that though, most of the characters leave much to be desired.
As for the musical numbers done by the wonderful Joe Raposo, they're rather hit or miss and there may even be a bit too much of them. Most of Ann's songs like "I Look, and What Do I See?" and "Rag Dolly" set her existence up well but they kind of sound the same. "Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers" establishes Ann and Andy's loving relation as siblings, but it moves at too slow a pace and becomes rather dreary after a while. The best songs like "No Girl's Toy", "Poor Babette", "Blue", "I Never Get Enough" and "I Love You" are memorable either because of their upbeat and lively tempo and vocals, zany visuals, bittersweet character moments, or because they're just looney. However, as stated before, there are too many of them and the movie would have really benefited with fewer, since some of them stop the movie dead in its tracks even more than the zany antics. Keep in mind, this movie has about 13 musical numbers; even Disney would say that's too much.
You know, after seeing this, I don't think I'd like to go on any more adventures with Raggedy Ann again anytime soon. Needless to say, Raggedy Ann & Andy is one of the weirdest animated features I've ever seen, mainly for the bizarre visuals and random shenanigans with no proper context whatsoever. Sadly, the insanity is the only memorable aspect of the movie, because without it, the film would still be left with a thin story, a majority of flat characters and hit-or-miss musical numbers. Personally, I'd only recommend this to those who are really into movies with more emphasis on trippy visual madness than plot or if you'd like to see what else Richard Williams did outside of Roger Rabbit or The Thief & the Cobbler. It really is sad to see so many highly professional artists and animators working on such a second rate feature with no logic at all, but at least a really interesting book came out of it (feel free to check out John Canemaker's book The Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy if you please).