Angry Birds X: The Fine-Feathered Movie/Tropes/YMMV


 * And You Thought It Would Fail: When the trailers came out, critics are positively mixed with this film and most believed it would be nothing more beyond a rip-off to both The Angry Birds Movie and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Few people could have predicted it would turn out to be a fantastic film adaptation of a cartoon with stellar traditional animation, unique blend of animation and live-action, hillarious Tex Avery-esque slapstick humor, unforgettable characters, an engaging plot, and a brilliant deconstruction of certain tropes. By the time of the film's release, it received critically acclaimed reviews, gaining a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and did exceptionally well at the box office.
 * Author's Saving Throw: From the fans perspective, the fact that the Flock didn't have arms and legs in this movie unlike The Angry Birds Movie which receives mixed reception, has won the fans.
 * A common criticism aimed towards previous live action adaptations of cartoons was how they often strayed away from the stylistic aspects of the original source material in favor of the live action CGI-route, which many feel hurts some characters and prevents them from being as expressive as they were in the shows (Scooby-Doo (2002) and Underdog (2007) being the most criticized for it). Many also were quite pleased that the movie wanted to try something new with the CGI on the Flock where instead of looking like realistic abominations or furry monstrosities as feared that befell other live-action/CGI adaptations of cartoons, they would opt for a more cel-shaded look and would stay a lot more true to the original designs.
 * Everyone who hated, or loathed, the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo would rejoice that Scrappy-Doo went back to his heroic ways, instead of being one of the villains.
 * One issue some had with The Angry Birds Movie was how the main characters (aside from Red, Chuck, Bomb, Matilda, and Terence) were not given enough screentime. This film rectifies the issue by having Hal, Bubbles, The Blues, Stella, Silver, Ruby, Tony, Frost, Poppy, Dahlia, Willow, Luca, and Gale have more active participation in the plot compared to The Angry Birds Movie.
 * One issue Tom and Jerry fans had with the recent Tom and Jerry direct-to-video films (except for Shiver Me Whiskers) was that the usage of Bill Hanna's vocal effects from the classic shorts are non-existent. Ths film uses the vocal effects a LOT more often, and they still sound as great as you remember them.
 * Awesome Art: Seriously, LOOK AT THE THING!!! Richard Williams and Eric Goldberg did an incredible job with the hand-drawn animation on the cartoon characters in the live-action scenes. The combination of "paperless" traditional animation (via Toon Boom) and the groundbreaking lighting effects make this one of the best-looking 2D animated films ever.
 * The movie's Animation Bump to Toon Boom results in some gorgeous use of colour, each of the Flock now getting their own personalized facial expressions, and some incredibly vivid locations.
 * The Flock when they transitioned into CGI when they got transported into the real world is absolutely gorgeous, looking fresh and updated while still keeping true to the spirit and look of both the series and Angry Birds Toons. Even the cel-shaded CGI replicates the character animation of the Flock really well. It also helps that it's done by Blue Sky Studios, the same animation studio that did Horton Hears a Who and The Peanuts Movie. Of note is that this is perhaps the first time where all the characters are exactly on-model to both their mobile app and Toons counterparts.
 * The end credits features art that depicts the Flock and the Pigs in the style of the classic Angry Birds video games. And they all look amazing.
 * Awesome Music: The first song released from the official soundtrack, "Bouncy House" (as sung by Flo Rida), definitely qualifies. It's nothing short but awesome, so awesome that it's also used for the trailer for the 2021 Tom and Jerry Movie.
 * No surprise, as we have Heitor Pereira and Christipher Lennertz to thank, but this is possibly their best collaboration of a score for the first try.
 * Friendly Fandoms: With Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and Wreck-It Ralph all seem to get along with one another pretty well because of the similar tone and concept and uniqueness of these four crossover (or live-action/animation hybrids). It also helps that they all focus much more on the story and character development.
 * He Really Can Act: The voice actors' performances as The Flock are phenomenal, especially Jim Cummings as Hal, Curtis Armstrong as Red, and John DiMaggio as Bomb, particularly during the more sincere moments.
 * Tim Curry is surprising great as Baron Harmful.
 * Billy West's performance as Bugs Bunny significantly improved after Space Jam and Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas.
 * Even the performances of the live actors feel genuine and believable, similar to how Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Let's just say Space Jam: A New Lagacy is not the only film where a cartoon character gets thrown off by a duo of adult-orientated animated characters from an animated series.
 * Tim Curry being a big contender to play the villain in a live-action/animated hybrid sounds familiar, right.
 * Just Here For Godzilla: The Angry Birds themselves. Due to essentially being the stars of their own movie, the scenes involving them developing as characters are widely hailed as the best parts of the movie.
 * Love to Hate: Baron Harmful is a sociopathic and sadistic reincarnation of Judge Doom willing to ruin the lives of innocent toons out of sheer revenge, but his thick Russian accent and menacing deliveries courtesy of Tim Curry make him quite memorable and very enjoyable to watch and one of the darkest Angry Birds villains.
 * Signature Scene: Many.
 * The prologue.
 * The conversation between Hal and Scarlett Johansson.
 * Bomb and the Flock launching themselves with a slingshot.
 * Baron Harmful getting what assumed to be the eggs and attempting to eat them, only to find out that they're egg shaped rocks painted to look like the flock's eggs and the real eggs have been cleverly saved by Hal.
 * Spiritual Successor: This is likely the closest we'll get to a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit or Looney Tunes: Back in Action, given the film's meta humor, cartoon cameos, and blend of live-action and animation. In fact, some fans have questioned why it was a cross between Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Angry Birds Movie to begin with.
 * Unexpected Character: No one expected Panty and Stocking to make an appearance.
 * Nobody expected that Roger Rabbit, Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman, OR Benny the Cab would be in this movie. Especially with Amblin Entertainment blocking Disney making anything new with Roger Rabbit for years.
 * This is one of the few times in history you've seen Mario and Sonic together in a piece of media that is NOT an crossover olympic game. But have you ever noticed they're never onscreen alone? They're always side-by-side. That's because Sega made an arrangement that their top stars, Sonic and Tails, get just as much screen-time as Nintendo's top stars, Mario and Luigi.
 * Uncanny Valley: While many were relieved that The Flock in the movie-within-the-movie would not be rendered in a realistic art style a la Alvin and the Chipmunks and Smurfs, few found the juxtaposition of the CGI Rovio-style birds with the live-action humans and environments odd-looking. However, this is helped by how the animators subtly replicating the 2D style.
 * Visual Effects of Awesome: No, seriously, we mean it, LOOK! AT! THIS! THING! The hand-drawn animation, either in the live action framing device or in the animated Toon Town, is downright stunning, with many even comparing the animation in the live-action framing device to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It shows that Cartoon Network and Warner Animation Group have taken notes from Nickelodeon Movies, as they put in the effort to make the animation much stronger than it ever was on television, presenting more fluid movements, richer colors, more use of lighting, and additional effects to spice up their looks. Same goes to Mr. Bean when he goes into Piggy Island, and slowly transforms into his animated self.
 * Regardless of the Uncanny Valley entry above, the 2D-esque CGI animation for the Flock when they got transported to the real world, by Baron Harmful, is very fluid, expressive, while managing to emulate their 2D style and energy and the animation stylings of the Golden Age of Animation very well, while giving the characters proper two-tone shading on the models and also masterfully blends in realistic 3D lightning and shading, making them blend into the live-action world a little more while making them look all the more believable, even in scenes where Zemeckis wanted to show off by having lighting constantly change, you completely believe they're sharing the same space, even getting the shadows and reflections down. In addition, the 2D illusion is used for the rest of the animation, unlike most other CGI. Nobody knows what the term is called until Tim Story coined one that describes using 3D animation to imitate the look and feel of 2D animation. He refers to that technique (used in films like Tom & Jerry, The Peanuts Movie, etc.) as "2D+" animation.
 * All the animation was done by Toon Boom Harmony, and then sent off to and Industrial Light & Magic to be optically composited, along with separately-animated shadows and highlights, into the live-action footage!
 * All of the effects are either practical or provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks: every single prop or piece of scenery being manipulated by a toon, from the piano playing to something as innocuous as a toon lifting a drink to their mouth, required either highly-skilled puppeteers or a machine invented solely for that movement to be placed on-set as a stand-in for the non-existent toon!
 * The movie also did an impressive job of blending in different forms of animation, from 2D animation, CG animation, Stop Motion, muppets to even sock puppets and gives a feel of a world where cartoon characters made from different animation styles live, similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
 * Win the Crowd: Fans were relieved that the movie chose to emulate the original Angry Birds game with The Flock's designs in the movie (via 2D animation in their world and the prologue or 2D+ animation in the real world) instead of the reviled hyper-realistic designs of movies of its kind in the past.
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit fans lauded the choice that Disney and Warner Bros. have made to bring Roger Rabbit, Jessica Rabbit, Benny the Cab, and Baby Herman in this movie, showing that Disney actually cares about the legacy of Roger Rabbit.