Growing up, I wasn't very deeply religious, but that would ultimately change a way into my adulthood, given my myriad mental illnesses and desire for some sort of spiritual help with my woes. A few years ago, back in 2017, I caught sight of The Star on Netflix, an animated film based on the story of Jesus focused mostly on an animal cast I had watched before and enjoyed and decided to rewatch this Christmas season.
In 9 months B.C., Mary is visited by an angel telling her she is destined to bear the Messiah, with Abby the pygmy jerboa telling others of a star that appears bright in the night. One of the main characters is the donkey Boaz, or Bo, tired of serving in a mill and yearning to be part of a royal caravan. He escapes and gets injured at the house of Joseph and Mary, who have just gotten married, with the latter revealing her pregnancy. While Bo and his dove friend Dave initially plan to escape, they ultimately stay three more months.
In the meantime, the Magi and their camels, Felix, Cyrus, and Deborah, respectively voiced by Tracy Morgan, Tyler Perry, and Oprah Winfrey, arrive at King Herod's palace, with the wise men revealing their gifts to be for the "new" king, which causes them to be booted, Herod sending his royal hunter and dogs after them secretly. The hunter ultimately gives chase to Mary and Joseph when they leave Nazareth for Bethlehem, with Bo going after the couple to give them warning. A disaster at a marketplace drives a wedge between Joseph and Bo, who, while he ultimately sees the royal caravan, liked being with Mary more. They eventually make up, and the standard story of Christ's birth plays out in the end.
Overall, I found The Star to be a fun, lighthearted take on the story of Jesus, and loved how central the animal cast was to it, with the voice performances being all-around solid as well, and the animation being standard polish for CG. Pretty much the only major issue is the weirdness in the instrumentation of maybe a few of the traditional Christmas songs (particularly in the opening), but everything else is otherwise great, and this is definitely one of my favorite modern Christmas films.
| The Good | The Bad |
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| The Bottom Line | |
| Endearing light-hearted take on the story of Christ's birth. | |
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