SMALLFOOT

A reverse-mythology story of yetis encountering a human – a creature they’ve always been told simply doesn’t exist – is the basic idea behind Smallfoot, which itself feels like that unusual beast; something thoughtful where the trailers had you thinking it would be wall-to-wall zany.

It all starts with plenty of silliness, introducing us to the icy, yet pleasant, existence of Migo (Channing Tatum), a happy yeti living in a happy yeti world who wants nothing more than to keep doing what he’s doing, and preparing to become the man (creature?) with the responsibility of ringing the morning gong, which everyone believes brings the shining snail to give them light each day. There are songs and pratfalls, but once he meets cameratoting world traveller Percy (James Corden), his worldview starts to open up, with big ramifications for his society and his new friend’s nearby town.

Director Karey Kirkpatrick, adapting Sergio Pablos’s book Yeti Tracks, uses the trappings of a wacky cartoon adventure to sneak in some interesting ideas. There’s a look at how societies are run by those in power, how lies can keep people in line and even how faith can work both for and against that. Heady stuff, but he never allows it to suffocate the story, or the lively character voice work from the likes of Zendaya, Common and Danny DeVito. James White