History WesternAnimation / FernGullyTheLastRainforest

* IdiosyncraticCulturalGesture: Crysta seems to recognize that Zack offering his hand while introducing himself is a form of greeting, but not knowing the context, offers her hand at Zack's eye level while introducing herself.

* ReformationAcknowledgement: Zach tells the Fairies that the humans were the ones who have been cutting down the trees in the forest as Hexxus and The Leveler approach Fern Gully. The Fairies seem to be doing a HeelFaceDoorSlam, brushing past him. Batty, however, who has been very anti-human the whole film, acknowledges Zach's efforts.
--> '''Batty:''' You know, Zach, the truth doesn't always win friends, but it certainly influences people. You're not half-bad, for a homonid.

If there were a Holy Trinity of [[AnAesop Aesop-y]] children's animation of the early '90s, it would consist of ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'', ''WesternAnimation/CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue''... and ''[=FernGully=]''.

It takes place in an Australian rainforest (though, strangely, [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent none of the humans even try to fake an Australian accent]]). Within is the titular MagicalLand, "[=FernGully=]", which is inhabited by a wide variety of [[FairyCompanion Fairy Creatures]]. They are led by the wise Magi Lune (Creator/GraceZabriskie), who is currently teaching her young protege, [[FairySexy Crysta]] (Creator/SamanthaMathis), the secrets of the forest. Here, Fairies believe that humans are extinct, having been last seen fleeing an attack by the spirit of destruction, Hexxus (Creator/TimCurry). One day, while enjoying the forest with her suave boyfriend Pips (Creator/ChristianSlater), curious Crysta ventures outside [=FernGully=], and accidentally discovers a human logging operation. After meeting an insane fruit bat named Batty Koda (Creator/RobinWilliams), and accidentally shrinking one of the humans, Zak (Jonathan Ward), down to her size, Crysta has to face the accidentally released Hexxus, who lives off pollution and threatens to destroy the forest.

** Later in the film, toxic gas that is killing the rainforest takes on a human form and sings a sexual song about how much he enjoys being toxic.

* IncitingIncident: If Zak hadn't accidentally sprayed the tree containing Hexxus, the tree wouldn't have been cut down, Hexxus wouldn't have been released, and Zak would've never encountered Crysta.

%% * FantasticRacism: Batty seems to hate humans in both movies, but very much distrusts them with hardly any exception. Really does – his experiences in the lab means that he sees them as monsters without feelings, "numb from the brain down" to the point that it'd be advisable to kill one. Admittedly, he has a damn good reason...

* ForWantOfANail: If Zak hadn't accidentally sprayed the tree containing Hexxus, the tree wouldn't have been cut down, Hexxus wouldn't have been released, and Zak would've never encountered Crysta.

%%* HartmanHips: Crysta.

It takes place in an Australian rainforest (though, strangely, [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent none of the humans even try to fake an Australian accent]]). Within is the titular MagicalLand, "[=FernGully=]", which is inhabited by a wide variety of [[FairyCompanion Fairy Creatures]]. They are led by the wise Magi Lune (Grace Zabriskie), who is currently teaching her young protege, [[FairySexy Crysta]] (Creator/SamanthaMathis), the secrets of the forest. Here, Fairies believe that humans are extinct, having been last seen fleeing an attack by the spirit of destruction, Hexxus (Creator/TimCurry). One day, while enjoying the forest with her suave boyfriend Pips (Creator/ChristianSlater), curious Crysta ventures outside [=FernGully=], and accidentally discovers a human logging operation. After meeting an insane fruit bat named Batty Koda (Creator/RobinWilliams), and accidentally shrinking one of the humans, Zak (Jonathan Ward), down to her size, Crysta has to face the accidentally released Hexxus, who lives off pollution and threatens to destroy the forest.

Like most other animated films of this time period that had any kind of success, ''[=FernGully=]'' spawned one very cheap DirectToVideo sequel titled ''[=FernGully=] 2: The Magical Rescue'', for which [[TheOtherDarrin none of the original cast reprised their roles]].

* AscendedExtra: The goanna goes from singing a two-minute song about eating Zak to being a reoccurring character in the sequel.

** In the sequel it's truly broken - a forest fire burns down a large part of the rain forest. The fairies set to work fixing it, and by the time the heroes return triumphant, things are almost back to normal. There's also the fact that forest fires are a completely natural part of a forest's life cycle. It consumes the dead twigs, branches and other detritus on the forest floor, not to mention there are a number of plants whose seeds ''depend'' on the heat from a fire to cause them to split open and begin their life cycle, taking advantage of the fire removing much of their competition.

* TheCameo: Ralph, one of Zak's co-workers, appears as a carny in the sequel. Though he's mistakenly given an Australian accent instead of the New York accent he had before.

* DemotedToExtra: Crysta has a very diminished role in the sequel, despite being the central character in the first film.

%%** In the sequel, [[spoiler:Nugget.]]

%%* HeelFaceTurn: In the sequel, [[spoiler: Mac's dogs Boof and Slasher.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Pips. He's a tough, badass fairy that hangs out with a group of biker fairies/impish creatures that very openly distrust Zak multiple times, but he's mostly concerned about Crysta's safety and [=FernGully=]'s survival, not to mention that he wants her for himself. Near the end of the movie, he ends up saving Zak from falling to his death and helps him get inside the Leveller. In the sequel, Pips even helps Crysta and her friends foil the poachers' plans.
* LargeHam:
** Hexxus. Creator/TimCurry was enjoying himself immensely. Batty Koda also gets some hammy moments because... hell, it's Robin freakin' Williams. The man was ''made'' of ham.
** Also, from the sequel: "MAI BAYYYYYYYYBEEEEEEEEEE!"

* OnlySaneMan: Batty comes across as this in the sequel.

* RunningGag: Batty Koda's consistent collision with trees (and anything) is a major running gag, and it even continues into the sequel.

* SkywardScream: The mother kangaroo in the sequel, after her baby is stolen.
-->"MY BAAAAABBBYYYYYY!"
* SoundtrackDissonance: Or soundtrack flip-floppery, anyway. In the sequel, Batty flips from singing about how they'll most certainly get home if they don't give up hope, to hopelessly informing the other animals that they're all bound for the same fate he suffered before the first movie, and then some.

** In the sequel, the moral is still to save the rainforest, even though we see several times the fairies can do to one their own. The moral of the story to him is "Don't save the rainforest, the fairies have it under control."

* TooDumbToLive: The villains of the sequel, who could have easily stopped the truck they were driving and kicked the heroine off of it, but instead elected to murder her by decoupling their trailer with her on it.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: A lot of if not any interest Crysta may have had for Pips takes a back seat as soon as Zak shows up. [[GreenEyedMonster Pips doesn't take it well at least at first.]] Whether he remains this is ambiguous; the two share a tender smile at the end but this may be bidding Zak farewell. Crysta flies off before anything more happens and Pips follows her like he always does. The sequel certainly did nothing with this.

* TheVoiceless: Bark, the smallest Beetle Boy. He becomes SuddenlySpeaking in the sequel, though.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the sequel, Batty's antenna is mysteriously missing. What makes this one really jarring are the facts that 1. the antenna was a major part of his character and 2. It was implied to be ''[[BodyHorror permanently affixed to his head]]''.

* YourSizeMayVary: Batty's size is rather inconsistent. The sequel is even worse - he goes from a few inches taller than the fairies, to about the size of a baby wombat, to big enough to ''carry a human child''. And back again.

* EvilBrit: Tim Curry in the first film. Also, in the sequel, the only people in the ''entirety of Australia'' with an Australian accent are the evil poachers - though we do not see all that many human beings in these stories.

Like most other animated films of this time period that had any kind of success, ''[=FernGully=]'' spawned one very cheap DirectToVideo sequel titled ''[=FernGully=] 2: The Magical Rescue''.

''[=FernGully=]: The Last Rainforest'' is a 1992 animated film produced by Kroyer Studios, Youngheart Productions and FAI Films, and distributed by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, and is [[FilmOfTheBook based on the children's book of the same title]], written by Diana Young. It is directed by Bill Kroyer with the screenplay by Jim Cox.

* OffModel: For ''[=FernGully=] 2'', now handled entirely by one studio (Creator/WangFilmProductions, who worked on the first film as a support studio), the animated scenes are disproportionate due to budgetary reasons. For example, Batty's radar was entirely undrawn with no sign it had ever been there. In addition, Batty becomes radically bigger. Whether the animation is overly fluid or just barely above television-quality also fluctuates between scenes.

* MaliciousMonitorLizard: Downplayed with Lou the goanna. He apparently enjoys playing with his food, as he sings an
entire song about how he wants to eat Zak, but when he learns that Zak is Crysta's friend, he stops.

* MaliciousMonitorLizard: Downplayed with Lou the goanna. He apparently enjoys playing with his food, as he sings an entire song about how he wants to eat Zak, but when he learns that Zak is Crysta's friend, he stops.

* DisneyAcidSequence: Arguably the whole movie. Only ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros'' used a more vivid palette.

** Outside of it [[PerpetuallyProtean he was initially an eyeless sludge with a mouth that was constantly shifting his form into long-necked, serpentine, and even a cobra]], then a blackened skeleton, next a strong-jawed blackened wraith, and finally, [[TheGrimReaper a skeletal demon wearing a sludge coat while with the interior of his coat being coated by flames.