Sunshine Barry & the Disco Worms (2008)

Wonderful character development!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

So this is a movie about worms who are treated by other insects with the same respect of white people being prejudice towards black people. Suddenly, a worm named Barry gains a love for disco music, so with the help of some other passionate worms, he sets forth to compete in a music talent competition to prove that worms have more to offer than being gross grubs. Yeah it's as cliche as it gets, and while this isn't a bad film per se, it definitely leans on the mediocre side. The biggest flaw this film has is how predictable the plot is; it's the same underdog story we've heard in countless other animated features where the main character wants to rise up above all odds and prove he's worth something. It doesn't help that it also contains the story beats of getting a band together, the main protagonist having a falling out with the other members, and then they get back together, and a female band member even becomes his love interest. Seriously, this feels like a diet Pixar or Dreamworks film with even more derivative beats.It doesn't help that the characters are rather one dimensional down to their basic traits. Barry is the loser who wants to prove he's more than what he seems, Tito is the fat best friend who resists the band at first before soon joining in, Gloria is the love interest who can't sing unless from the heart, and Tony Dean is the generic bully singer who hates any worm. There really isn't much weight to them outside of their traits and the movie doesn't really let them grow outside of the generic plot. The only character worth remembering is the British punk rock worm Jimmy, since he offers the best laughs and grows from hating disco to liking it rather smoothly. Oh, and Barry's dad does give some closure to the plot, but he might've done it later than he should have.Furthermore, considering that this is a Danish animated film with an English dub, the voice acting itself is fine and some of the singing is quite enjoyable. However, where the voices are passable enough, the synching is not very good and it makes it all the more obvious how little the mouth movements match the alternate language track.Now to the film's credit, it does have a good message. It's not the fame or money coming from music that makes it worth it, it's the love and passion from the creator that really matters. That can speak to anybody of a young age, and as cliched as the story is, it does highlight said message to remind all that fame is nothing compared to the talent hidden inside you. Also, while not Pixar quality, the animation is decent enough and the animators do get rather creative with the dance moves, timing, and even lights. Although, why did you have to put breasts on the female worms? That...that's just wrong. Lastly, the soundtrack is a lot of fun considering it contains a bunch of 70s disco classics, and it even made me sing along much of the time.Overall, Disco Worms is by no means of dubious quality, but it certainly doesn't rise above mediocrity. While the message, animation, and soundtrack do give the film some fun entertainment value, the predicable story, bland characters and obvious poor lip synch keep the film from being anything special. I guess if you're in the mood for a sub par movie that at least offers some fun songs and groovy animation, then you might have fun with this. Otherwise, this is a generic albeit harmless film that only children might have fun with, but at least they'll understand to not let fame get to their head. In fact, never let go of your talent, and keep on playing that funky music pink worm...I mean white boy.

The story starts with Barry a worm who accidentally finds a record of disco music and plays it. His body starts moving, his tale flips and the music takes over him. Barry feels worthless. He works for a company in a compost pile. Lots of insects make fun of him and his capabilities. He wants to do more with his life.He starts to look for band members a singer, drum player etc He convinces his friends to join he decides to and enter his band in a contest hoping to win moneyThe movie is very amusing. It is animated but more for kids over 12. The songs are disco music "Boogie Wonderland, Feelings, Disco Inferno, Upside Down" and more. All really good.The singing and instruments animation in the movie are so good with worms playing the guitar and drums. Barry is discouraged - others keep telling him disco is not the kind of music that will make him famous.The storyline shows if you keep trying to do something you believe in and have talent for -- people still come against you but, in the end you come out the winner. I found that to be a good reason enough to like the movie though I think was made for entertainment, The producers, cast members, musical and animation team make this a great movie.

Bjarne is coming of age. His mother is immensely frightened that her little worm will be unable to drop his childhood follies and focus on his new work at a waste processing plant. Unfortunately for her she is right as Bjarne indulges into his new passion: creating a disco band and scooping up a huge prize at the talent competition. This leads him to create Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms. On bass: his best friend the extremely overweight Jimmy. On guitar: metal-head Niller: On backup vocals: pretty-worm Gloria. On drums: secretary music-extraordinaire Donna.A mildly entertaining affair, which starts of a bit tedious and uninspiring, but actually manages to hit the funk somewhere towards the end with a couple of nicely sold gags plus surprisingly well-scripted (albeit extremely predictable) plotting. Even though the characters are mostly unsympathetic (save for maybe the characters of Niller and Donna) the movie manages to hit home with the boogie. I really must say that I was taken slightly by surprise, as I was expecting a semi-digested turd, but instead actually found myself enjoying the final third of the movie.The movie will never get applauds for innovative script or spectacular jokes, while the charm is all over the place, but the essential question is whether the disco fever will channel through your body by the end. In my case I would have to say yes.

When I saw the first trailer I was rather skeptical about another animated movie made to promote celebrities through giving them voice roles and singing old hits all over again. I was surprised to see that it was actually very well done. The version which I watched was dubbed by Polish soap-opera actors, pop-rock singers and talent-show jurors so every worm got a celebrity matching their character and the arrangements of songs were very well done. My wild guess is that other language versions worked in a similar way.The animation is fairly nice, with many background details and fantastically designed body language of the worms whose tail-gestures make up for the lack of arms.The plot is very predictable, so I won't even try to spoil it. The movie reminds us that we should never give up on dreams, follow our heart, be proud of our children whatever they are good at, believe in ourselves and our friends, be able to express ourselves and not be posers. Rather typical stuff, but good to be reminded of from time to time.A very good point of the movie is that it is suitable for people of all ages. Children will follow the simple plot, teenagers will laugh at the characters and adults will pick up the satire on relations between generations and the dull life of working people.I recommend it to families with children and suggest some dancing during the final scene and credits.