Brasil Animado

Brasil Animado (lit. Animated Brazil) is a 2011 2D-animated Brazilian live-action/animated comedy film directed by Mariana Caltabiano. The film is the first feature film created by Caltabiano.

Plot
A couple of dogs called Stress and Relax (who are the opposite of each other), leave in search for the Cariniana legalis, the oldest tree of Brazil. They are not sure what city the tree is. While Relax thinks only about having fun and get to know the culture of different parts of Brazil, Stress becomes increasingly eager to find the tree as he hopes to get rich selling souvenirs of it.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The movie feels more like a documentary about the history and culture of Brazil than an actual movie.
 * 2) Some of the places Stress and Relax goes are just to show of the geography and landscapes instead of making any further progress.
 * 3) The plot is not only lackluster, but also meaningless, since at the end of the movie, it is revealed that the tree was located at the starting point (Santa Rita do Passa Quatro) all the time, thus making their road trip pointless.
 * 4) The main characters (Stress and Relax) (while likeable) are bland, and they have stereotyped personalities
 * 5) * Stress is a business dog with little to no patience.
 * 6) * Relax is a hippie who uses typical slang.
 * 7) There's a character who randomly shows up along the duo, and he has an irritating habit of ending his words with "Yeah, definitely".
 * 8) Some of the voices are annoying and forced.
 * 9) The film's attempts at comedy end up being unfunny and awkward.
 * 10) Pointless pop culture references.
 * 11) Too many repetitiveness of situations.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The film is great to learn about the history, the culture, and the various regions of Brazil, if you don't know it.
 * 2) The landscapes of the regions of Brazil are beautiful.
 * 3) The characters, despite being bland, are likeable.
 * 4) The soundtrack was pretty decent to hear.
 * 5) The animation is vibrate and colorful, despite being very limited.
 * 6) Like the award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the live-action/animation combination is very immersive.
 * 7) Despite being subpar, it was Brazil's first animated feature film in stereoscopic 3D.

Reception
The film had mixed reception from critics, between medium and low grades. The website Omelete gave a rating of 2/5. Another website, AdoroCinema, gave a rating of 1.5 / 5, but the audience seemed more receptive and gave the film a 5/10 rating. Among the most criticized things in the film were the linearity of the plot, the strong focus on the educational factor and the over-repetition of the way events occurred. However, there was a lot of praise for the charisma and the voice acting of the characters. It was also highlighted the importance of the pioneering work that was the first 3D project of Brazilian cinema and that the production had a considerable quality if analyzed the reasonable budget of the film.

Trivia

 * Three years before the release of this movie, Stress and Relax were featured on a compilation movie that eventually became the pilot for the series mh:terribletvshows:As Aventuras de Gui & Estopa.
 * This is the first Brazilian film completely produced with 3D technology.
 * Fifivelinha makes an appearance in one scene.

Video
