The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island (2005)

That was an excellent one.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"Der kleine Eisbär 2: Die geheimnisvolle Insel" is a German animated movie from 2005, so this one is a decade old already, more actually and it is another collaboration between De Rycker and Rothkirch. This is of course a sequel to the original film from 2001 and some of the voice actors return here. Others did not, but if you take a look at the cast list and if you are from Germany, then you will recognize the names of many German entertainers. A really impressive quantity indeed. The fact that I liked the film, however, had more to do with the animation and story. There is again a nice retro look to the animation here and the story, while not always convincing, was interesting enough overall and also includes a nice environmental message. It comes easy to care for the characters here and cuteness prevails, not just in the case of title character Lars, but also several others that were originally created by Dutch writer Hans de Beer. It's also not negative at all that this is just a 75-minute movie. This way it has better focus and is more specific and it's ten times better like this than with another 10-15 minutes filler material. So overall, I am indeed convinced here and I probably would have watched a third film about the little polar bear. With more than a decade behind us and Rothkirch gone, it's unlikely to ever happen, but no need to be sad as there are really more than enough additions in terms of television series and video releases. As for this one here, also known as "The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island", it gets a thumbs-up and a positive recommendation. Certainly worth seeing for the young ones as well as those young at heart. Some decent heart in this relatively short full feature movie.

I really liked the first Little Polar Bear movie. It was funny, and a cute and charming tale of friendship and acceptance. I wasn't expecting this sequel to be good, but actually it was quite charming and nice.It is too short though and the film could have been paced a little better in the middle. Also while Caruso is funny sometimes, there are times when his presence is either not needed or it juxtaposes too much with the tone of the scene.However, it is very nicely animated with lovely antarctic landscapes and good character designs. The script is funny and charming, the story is suspenseful and well written, the characters are likable and the voice acting is well done. My favourite asset was the soundtrack, it was wonderful and fitted with each scene beautifully.Overall, I was expecting it to be bad but it was actually quite good and charming. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Last Sunday I visited "Der kleine Eisbär 2" with my daughter (7) and found it quite entertaining. This time Lars and his friend Robby start out for a rescue mission for their friend Caruso leading them to the Galapagos islands. On their way they save an big ancient fish and many little sea turtles. The story is well told, suspenseful (for kids) and sometimes funny. The painting is good in general but nothing special. What really drew me in this picture was the excellent sound track (I'm not quite sure but I think I read the name Zimmer for it). Also the German voices did their job quite well do breath live to the characters. All in all I found it to be a quite good film for the whole family, especially kids...