Doug's 1st Movie (1999)

Too much of everything

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Blistering performances.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This was one of those Nickelodeon cartoons that ran during the early 90's which I used to watch religiously. Along with 'Rugrats' and 'Hey Arnold!' the toons of that time were really decent and quite fresh in terms of originality and artistic style. 'Doug' being the most simplistic to look at compared to the others, yet I still can't recall how or why I actually got into this.The movie has the same age old issue, can it work when stretched out to a films length? Quite plainly I would say yes, this will not appeal to adults in the slightest unless like me you like the toon. Its purely 100% for kids and not meant to be anything more, hence its extremely errr...childish, simple and unoriginal.I thought everything here worked really well to be honest, all the characters seem to be voiced by the regular people, give or take. Everything visually is recognisable from the daytime cartoon, its been spruced up of course but it still looks like Doug and there hasn't been any CGI tomfoolery. That fact I like, the fact they kept it pure like the original material and didn't use CGI, that's good (at least I don't think they used CGI).The only thing I didn't really like here was the plot believe it or not. Now I know this will sound stupid but the plot was unrealistic, let me explain. I'm reasonably sure that in all the 'Doug' cartoons the plot has always been relatable, in other words about problems kids face in school, at home, growing up, daily life we all can understand etc...It has never ventured into the realms of complete fantasy, I don't think. So this movie to have the plot based around a dinosaur lake monster running amok is kinda crappy frankly, just seems totally lame and as if they couldn't think of anything else. 'Ah lets just stick a monster in their and they make friends with it blah blah blah', a cartoon version of 'Splash' or 'Free Willy'.If you know this franchise then you'll know what to expect, good morals, good-natured harmless silliness and plenty of sickly kiddie romance. Although it doesn't seem as witty with Doug's regular daydream interventions which he had in the daily cartoon. There does seem to be a clear difference between the early Nickelodeon Doug and this Disney Doug, early Doug did seem cheaper with those corny tacky homemade sound effects and sketchy animation, but that was its charm. I never saw the later Disney Doug episodes but I've heard bad things.This big screen adventure does lack that charm but it still manages to do what it set out to do. The film is enjoyable and still looks nice but admittedly isn't as rich or pretty as other animations. You really have gotta be a fan to enjoy this, otherwise I can fully understand if you think it looks terrible. I think time has passed for this franchise and film now, the moment has gone and it doesn't really stand the test of time, plus no Billy West! its still OK though.5/10

I looked up this movie on Wikipedia a few weeks ago to see what it was about. When I read the plot summary, I honestly thought that somebody had trolled the page and typed in the weirdest s*** they could think of. Then, after checking IMDb's plot summary, I realized that it was ACTUALLY ABOUT A FRIENDLY MONSTER NAMED HERMAN MELVILLE. And the funny thing about this: I actually DID see this in theaters when it came out (back in '99, which made me 9 years old at the time), but I literally had NO memory of this movie. I remember everything else I've ever seen in theaters, to some degree, but not this one.The fact that this movie was SO ridiculous, yet SOOOOO forgettable is a testament to its quality. I was a fan of the show too (when it was on Nickelodeon, I hated what Disney did to it). Btw, "Doug's FIRST Movie"? Obviously, that title isn't descriptive enough; should've put "and only" somewhere in that title...

Personally, I think "Doug's 1st Movie" was boring and a waste of time. I think when the Doug TV Series was on Nick was good, then Disney came in. Probably kids from the ages of 4-9 will be able to sit through this movie, and maybe their parents, but nobody else. It was okay though I guess, I'm sure the younger kids probably liked it and it still has problems that everyone can relate to. But come on, what was up with that monster? And why did they have to show those people giving it a shot?(well, I felt sick!). I would give it 4 stars out of 10. And by the way, why was Disney's "Doug" TV series canceled that same year? And why the heck was the movie PG? Oh well!

This movie is awesome! It's really a great movie for all die-hard Doug fans (like me). Doug fans (as well as kids and adults, not to mention teenagers) will really like it. The movie answers all questions that Doug fans have like, is there really a monster in the lake? And will Doug and Patti get together? The animation is a step higher than the TV show which is great! I had teenage friend who saw it and laughed! It's funny, sweet and smart! Lots of fun to watch!