"Back to Gaya" or "Zurück nach Gaya" is a co-production between Spain and Germany from 2004 that resulted in a German-language movie, even if there are also all kinds of versions out there in other languages. The English-language one is possibly right now even more known than the original because it includes voice work by big names like Patrick Stewart and Emily Watson. The most known name in the German version is probably Michael Bully Herbig. Now about the film itself, I think the voice acting is not the problem at all overall. But the story is. The core here is the heroes' challenge to get back a priceless stone and return to their world. This is an okay little reference in the center of it all. But all the side stories they created around it are either so generic and stuff we have seen a 100 times before in films (like the female character's emancipation) or just complete try-hard nonsense like when they met their creator. At least it needed to have been done a lot better to make half the impact only they were trying to make with this part for example. So yeah, the story here is probably the biggest weakness and I wished they could have kept it more essential, even if it had run for 75-80 minutes and not 100.
The animation part is entirely subjective if you like it or nor. I must say the way the characters looked I was never really interested or cared for their well-being and successes. The bad guys were slightly better looking to be fair (also nice voice there from Book of Unwritten Tales), but also nothing really extraordinary. The sets and sceneries were a bit better, but still it all felt so mediocre really, pretty much all aspects from this film. It is already way older than a decade now,so it looks as if there will never be a sequel and I cannot be too mad about that really. It was never a watch where I would say yes this was on par with at least the weaker films Disney and Pixar offer us these days and honestly, there are more than just a few European animated films (also in the full feature category) that certainly managed to do so in the last 20 years. Finally, what is perhaps the most disappointing thing about it all is to see how many people wrote and directed this film and still how forgettable it turned out to be. Too many cooks spoiling the broth here for sure. Then again, looking at some other stuff by Holger Tappe, one of the two directors, it s not too surprising that "The Snurks" is a forgettable disappointment for the most part. I don't recommend checking it out.
The animation part is entirely subjective if you like it or nor. I must say the way the characters looked I was never really interested or cared for their well-being and successes. The bad guys were slightly better looking to be fair (also nice voice there from Book of Unwritten Tales), but also nothing really extraordinary. The sets and sceneries were a bit better, but still it all felt so mediocre really, pretty much all aspects from this film. It is already way older than a decade now,so it looks as if there will never be a sequel and I cannot be too mad about that really. It was never a watch where I would say yes this was on par with at least the weaker films Disney and Pixar offer us these days and honestly, there are more than just a few European animated films (also in the full feature category) that certainly managed to do so in the last 20 years. Finally, what is perhaps the most disappointing thing about it all is to see how many people wrote and directed this film and still how forgettable it turned out to be. Too many cooks spoiling the broth here for sure. Then again, looking at some other stuff by Holger Tappe, one of the two directors, it s not too surprising that "The Snurks" is a forgettable disappointment for the most part. I don't recommend checking it out.