Review: The overcompensation in ‘Arlo the Alligator Boy’ can fill a swamp
This review contains spoilers.
It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that musical movies time-and-again are inherently formulaic.
“Arlo the Alligator Boy,” written and directed by Ryan Crego as an animated Netflix original, is no exception. “Arlo” consciously borrows from some of the most formulaic musical movies, such as the iconic “The Prince of Egypt,” “The Little Mermaid,” and even the almighty “Hercules.” The protagonists of these movies all share one thing in common: the desire to be accepted in a world where they feel they don’t belong. As a more recent take on this age-old theme along with, possibly, too little of an acute awareness of its audience, “Arlo” still passes as a feel-good option that should be considered for a family movie night.
“Arlo” follows the pure, lovable and kind-hearted young alligator boy Arlo (Michael J. Woodard) on his adventure to New York City to find his father. We’re first introduced to Arlo, after viewing a gorgeous opening sequence featuring a classy approach to the art style and a grand orchestration (showing that the creators of the movie took being a musical animation seriously), as a teeny weeny baby alligator abandoned in a basket in the sewer.
The flow of the sewer water eventually carries the basket across the ocean despite being put in multiple dangerous circumstances that possibly could have killed Arlo, in all reality, before being found by Edmee (Annie Potts). Edmee, a caring old woman who hides in the swamp to avoid being arrested as a fugitive in the outside world, eventually takes Arlo in as her own. So, uh, baby Moses in the opening sequence of “The Prince of Egypt,” much?
Fast-forwarding (as coming-of-age stories often do) to teenage Arlo, we learn that Arlo wonders what the world is like beyond the swamp and how’d it be to dwell among humans other than his adopted mother Edmee; he is given her blessing to leave the swamp to find his father who he believes lives in New York City.
Arlo as well as side characters including the tough but otherwise gentle Bertie (Mary Lambert) expresses all of his deepest desires through –– you guessed it ––– song, and one can really see how hard the creators tried to place importance on the concept of music in this film, lest we forget it’s a musical. Much of the more vivid and colorful pieces of animation are saved for musical sequences, showing audiences the extent of Arlo’s imagination and that of his peers, which would definitely appeal to younger viewers. That’s not to say older audiences wouldn’t appreciate the musical numbers. If not for the animation, then older age groups will definitely have appreciation for the jaw dropping talent of Woodard and Lambert, especially during any time the two have a duet. Woodard’s smooth and controlled tenor timbre coupled alongside Lambert’s light and floaty mezzo suits the R&B style of music the movie chooses to roll with.
On his journey to find his father, Arlo meets a few more characters that honestly don’t add much to the overall plot of the story despite, after dropping Arlo off to see his father, becoming Arlo’s best friends. He meets a literal talking pink fur ball who tries too hard to come across as a drag queen named Furlecia (Jonathan Van Ness), who unironically is also obsessed with her own hair.
Other than Furlecia being the most LGBTQ+ representation the audience will get out of an animated kids movie in the most menial way, her and the other members of Arlo’s new chosen family at the end do not progress the story in any way aside from the writers’ attempts at lackluster humor that center around only one aspect of each of their personalities, which sadly does more harm than good in regards to Furlecia’s character. While children can easily be mesmerized by a tiny Italian man from “Little Italy” who loves pizza like Tony (Tony Hale), or a cat who, even until the very end of the movie, doesn’t know much about driving, like Alia (Haley Tju), older viewers may have to rely on other aspects of the movie in order to enjoy it.
That being said, despite its failed attempts at creating interesting side characters, the message of “Arlo” isn’t a bad one, but it is one we’ve seen over and over again. Upon meeting his father (who chooses to deny the fact until a big revelation at the very end), Arlo receives advice from him telling him that if he wanted to make it in the world, Arlo needed to change himself, leaving him even more confused than he already was, before entering his “lowest point” as the protagonist.
Throughout the movie, the audience has witnessed Arlo go through life as the positive little gator he is, so seeing him walk with his head down through the gloomy streets of New York, contrasted with their portrayal of having bustled with color and life in previous scenes, is essentially heartbreaking. But, after two (which is already one too many) sad songs in a row, that included a reprise and a rap by Arlo, audiences can’t help but notice how his spirit was uplifted a lot faster compared to how he lingered through the drag of his past few scenes.
Notice how the antagonists of the film (who did exist by the way) were not alluded to at all within this review, and the reason for this being that it would have been best if “Arlo” had none at all, leaving Arlo’s self-discovery arc to itself. The so-called villains of “Arlo” are the poachers Ruff (Flea) and Stucky (Jennifer Coolidge) who want to make money off of Arlo as their newest attraction in the crooked-con business they own.
Aside from taking part in nonsensical comedic chase and fight scenes, their “evil” was left to the extent of spitting on the ground at the most random times and littering. It also doesn’t help that in the end, the two suddenly reform and forget their villainous motivations because they, as Ruff puts it, were moved by having “learned things about the human experience,” which could probably be the laziest way to end an antagonist’s arc. The only upside we get out of their characters is meeting their pet, or the seemingly terrifying “Beast,” which in reality is the most massive dog, and comes a close second to Arlo as the cutest character of the film.
In the end, Arlo learns the value of friendship and to accept his uniqueness as an alligator boy, after choosing to reject his rich father’s offer to live luxuriously with him (a rather Hercules-esque move by Arlo). Instead, he decides to live with his friends, finally making them important to the plot, and closes off the show with an upbeat finale song that ironically, although featuring the animation of Arlo and all his friends, only includes the voices of Arlo and Bertie, which is more than telling on the lack of importance the rest of them have in regards to the overall film.
“Arlo the Alligator Boy” although (surprisingly) not a Disney or Dreamworks film, follows the tropes of many of the works produced by such companies. This only goes to show how much these films rely on a certain formula that younger audiences are fine with consuming over and over again. But, on the bright side, we can rely on the fact that these children now, like us who were once in their shoes, will eventually begin to realize that even beautiful animation and super catchy music can’t continue to hide the same story disguised in different “fonts” and the character misrepresentation that they expect us to accept.
3.5/5