April 10th, 2022 
Michael Lyons 
When FernGully: The Last Rainforest opened in 1992, Washington Post film critic Desson Howe said of the film that it “…sounds as though its environmentally correct message will fall upon you like a heavy rubber tree. But FernGully is neither weighty nor whiny. It sings its messages unobtrusively through – and for – the trees. And, most importantly, it never forgets to be delightful for children and their moviegoing guardians.”
An appropriate summation of FernGully, which is set in the titular, peaceful rainforest guarded by fairies with magical powers. One of these fairies named Crysta is intrigued with the world outside of FernGully. She ventures to Mount Warning, where the evil Hexxus resides. Here, she finds a human named Zak, who is a part of a deforestation team.
When a tree almost levels him, Crysta saves Zak by shrinking him to fairy size. Meanwhile, the humans accidentally release Nexxus, who is set on destroying FernGully, as Crysta tries to get Zak back to the human world.
FernGully would boast not just an notable message, but an impressive voice cast that included many famous stars of the decade, including Samantha Mathis as Crysta, Christian Slater as Pips the elf, rapper Tone Loc as Goanna, the monitor lizard, Cheech Marin, and Tommy Chong as Stump and Root, who are part of the “Beetle Boys,” a biker-like gang who ride bugs like motorcycles, and Tim Curry, as Nexxus.
And the cast also features Robin Williams as the hyperactive bat named Batty Koda, who claims to have been experimented on by humans and tells Crysta about their world. The character would mark Williams’ first animated voice performance, seven months before Aladdin. With Williams’ trademark stream-of-consciousness and impressions, Batty Koda would be somewhat of a coming attraction for what audiences could expect from the Genie on a grander scale.
Directed by Bill Kroyer (an animation veteran, who had worked at Disney before this, including computer animation for 1982’s Tron), FernGully came from producer Wayne Young’s passion for the environment.
Kroyer and his team brought some impressively staged sequences to the screen, combining both traditional and computer animation. Hexxus is a notable, ethereal blend of ooze and smoke, and his big musical number, “Toxic Love,” is an animated tour-de-force (with shades of Curry’s Rocky Horror Picture Show). And both Batty Koda and Goanna the lizard are well-crafted examples of personality animation that take full advantage of their vocal talents.
FernGully was initially slated for release for the holiday season of 1991 but was pushed back to avoid competition with Beauty and the Beast and Feivel Goes West, which were both being released then.
Debuting on April 10th, 1992, FernGully was a moderate success. Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, the film, unfortunately, has become lost somewhere between Disney’s blockbusters of the 90’s animation renaissance.
The anniversary calls for a revisit to FernGully: The Last Rainforest. It is still a relevant environmental story, with comfortable animation and appealing characters. Yes, it’s “of its time” and a bit of a 1990’s throwback, but that’s part of what Desson Howe called the “neither weighty nor whiny” charm of FernGully.
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