Writer: Wilson Chong

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Watch this if you liked: “The Flintstones” and “Ice Age”

There is an age-old debate in humanity on the concepts of conservativeness against innovation. Thankfully, we do not need to be philosophers to watch the fight between these two concepts. "The Croods" has done a great job depicting that fight for us in animation form.

The film starts off by introducing Eep and her family, called the Croods, hence the film's title. We have Eep, the rebellious teenage daughter; Grug, the patriarch of the family; Ugga, Grug's dutiful wife; Thunk, the airhead son; Gran, Grug's mother-in-law and Sandy, the ferocious youngest child. They are all cavemen living in the Stone Age era. They hunt for food and hide in their cave from large predators. However, Eep is tired of their lifestyle that frowns upon all things new. It is Grug's personal mantra that curiosity is bad. One day, Eep meets Guy, an inventor who warns them of 'The End', a natural phenomenon which alters the landscape drastically. Grug, who represents conservativeness, is constantly at odds against Guy, who represents innovation.

The film has many values which can be applied in reality. The film talks about fear and embracing changes. Grug is afraid of everything new because he is afraid these new things will harm his family. Grug's negative perception of innovation changed to positive by the end of the film. Furthermore, the film speaks about the importance of family. A particular touching scene of the movie is Grug's reunion with his family after he crossed over from the other side.

The film replicates a real family's dynamics between each other. The father figure struggles with the teenage daughter. The father figure hates the mother-in-law. The father figure tries to stop the teenage daughter from dating. The only difference from reality is the many fantastical creatures they encounter in their adventures.

The creatures featured in the film are not your average animals. From flying turtles, elephant mice, piranha birds, giant sabre tooth tiger, walking whales, carnivorous plants, crocodile dog to the talking sloth named 'Belt', viewers will be amazed by these Prehistoric animals.

In conclusion, "The Croods" is a feel-good film suitable to be watched by the whole family. Adults will laugh at the jokes while children will enjoy the animation. A win-win situation for both sides.

Cinema Online, 13 March 2013