Ugly Dolls may be based on stuffed animals that are not so ugly, but the real ugliness here comes from the story the movie is based around. To be completely honest with all of you, I went to see this movie for one reason and one reason only; gibberish cat. He is voiced by director Kelly Ashby and appears in the movie a total of three times. It is actually four times if you stay until the very end of the credits. He pops up and speaks gibberish one more time while the STX logo closes out the post-credits.
Anyways, besides the gibberish cat (which I wished they had a stuffed animal for) this movie had its heart in the right place but failed to deliver on anything besides songs. You know how sometimes you’re in trouble when animated movies belt out a song to open the movie and every five minutes sings dialogue to move the story along…yeah that was Ugly Dolls. Jammed packed with an A-List voice cast of singers, the characters and the material never really engage you enough to care about the story. I totally understand that being out of place sucks and that most of us want to find a home, a place where we belong, but this movie fails to get you invested in their journey there.
The movie is only 1:29 long so things move at a fast pace and never allow for deep character development. A lot of animated movies these days try to present a story littered with things for adults and kids so everyone who attends stays entertained and enjoy their time at the movies. Ugly Dolls doesn’t have a whole lot of subliminal jokes so even adults may find this a bore to sit through. Not the worse movie of all-time but also not even a good one. 1/10
Ten Stars or Less 