Computer animation is a double-edged sword. While discussion of the topic is typically limited to the vast visual advancements made by companies such as Pixar and Dreamworks, it has not advanced far enough as a medium that the simple act of painting in pixels itself creates a more nuanced, agreeable effect than hand-drawn animation. Such is the problem with Alpha and Omega, or at least the main one. Whatever problems there might be with the plot, characterization, or wholly ridiculous ideas about the way that wolves look and behave, they are miniscule in comparison to the story’s realization in animated form. Even if this had been written and voiced by Pixar-level talent, there’s no way that they would have been able to save it.
Kate (Hayden Panettiere) and Humphrey (Justin Long) are two wolves on the opposite end of the social order of their pack: Kate is a hunter Alpha, while Humphrey is a peace-making Omega. In spite of this, they are somehow able to tolerate each other’s presence. Their pack, led by Kate’s father Winston (Danny Glover), is in a state of constant conflict with the other wolf pack in Jasper National Park , which is led by Tony (Dennis Hopper). Winston and Tony agree that Kate will marry Tony’s son, which will unite their two packs and end years of warfare. But before they can go ahead with the marriage, Kate and Humphrey are relocated by wildlife officials to another park, and must try to find their way back to prevent the two packs from destroying each other.
Though a significant number of animated films aimed at children feature animal protagonists, there are no hard and fast rules as to how they should be personified; in other words, with each new species featured, the animators have to come up with new ways to make them relateably human. Though we may know on a psychological level that bird feathers can’t actually grip in the way that human fingers do (Rock-a-Doodle) or that ants have six legs rather than four (A Bug’s Life), it helps us to connect with creatures who in reality have habits vastly different from our own. But Alpha and Omega never finds a convincing medium between naturalism and anthropomorphism, and tries so hard to do so that it’s honestly disconcerting. Each wolf in Jasper National Park has a mane that is fashioned into a hairstyle appropriate to the character (Kate’s mother has hair combed down to the side like June Cleaver, while her younger sister’s hair is slung down over her face in a way similar to evil Peter Parker’s in Spider-Man 3). Discounting the fact that wolves don’t even have manes, the sight of a female wolf bearing hair that could typically found only on a human is kind of unnerving (it’s hard for the first immediate thought not to be that the wolf has eaten someone and taken her personal effects), and it never dissipates throughout the entire film.
But even that doesn’t quite get at the more central problem of the film’s appearance, which is that as little as the animators seem to understand wolves, they seem to understand physics even less. Numerous times during the film, limbs seem to elongate, facial expressions contort out of place, and flesh seems to mold and take new shapes in a way that flesh just shouldn’t. None of this is helped by the fact that rather than detailing the hair on their bodies (admittedly an expensive process that was probably out of their reach), the animators smooth it over until it resembles some sort of cream dessert topping. The great thing about animation is that it can use its elastic sense of dimension to express feelings too big and boisterous to be contained by more realistic mediums, but similarly, when that dimension is not assumed, it is all the more evident that the people in charge have not fully invested themselves in the product, and the overall effect is less than involving. This is the case with Alpha and Omega, and it’s impossible to get beyond it.
It might seem superficial to write an entire review (a negative one at that) of a film and pay scant attention to the plot or characters (which are hardly any better). But with something like this, that's similar to arguing that you should be able to appreciate a great novel despite the fact that it's written in ketchup on the inside of a pizza box. The medium means a lot, and until computer animation is able to get to a level where it can all but render itself, hand-drawn animation shouldn't be totally discounted (not that it ever should be). It might not have saved Alpha and Omega, but it could have given it firmer ground on which to work.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
There is a "log sliding" interactive game, several featurettes ("Wolves in The Wild", "The Alpha of Animation", and "From Alpha to Omega"), a deleted scene and some fun facts trivia. There is also a second disc, which contains the film on DVD.
"Alpha and Omega" is on sale January 11, 2011 and is rated PG. Animation, Children & Family. Directed by Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck. Written by Chris Denk, Steve Moore. Starring Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Dennis Hopper, Hayden Panettiere, Julia Schneider, Justin Long.
