This likeable but limp South African ’toon about a half-striped zebra aims to reclaim its continent’s wildlife from Hollywood safaris like The Lion King . Sadly, it’s too timid to survive against feistier competition.
Everything is leftovers, from the lazy casting of dependable but typecast stars (Liam Neeson, Steve Buscemi), to a quest structure Robert McKee would dismiss as formulaic.
Even the film’s key source of charm, its heartfelt allegory about tolerance, becomes a flaw when rare flashes of anarchy (notably a tribe of crazed rodents) are eclipsed by over earnestness.
