Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog

Why did the Chickenhare cross the road? He was searching for adventure. However, his long-lost sister has ulterior motives. She doesn’t merely want to cross a road, or a jungle. She hopes to alter time. That usually produces ironically terrible results and will likely be the case again in Benjamin Mousquet’s Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog, based on Chris Grine’s juvenile graphic novels, which opens Friday in the UK.

Chickenhare looks like a rabbit, but his ears have feathers that he can use to fly, if he has a sufficient running (or falling) start. Having been adopted by King Peter, Chickenhare successfully sought glory as the realm’s leading Indiana Jones-like adventurer. Of course, he has help from Abe, the turtle, and Meg, a skunk. Meg trained extensively in the martial arts, but her most potent weapon, is her you know, skunk essence.

Chickenhare’s prologue adventure produces a clue for the film’s real quest: the Backward-Facing Groundhog, who can change one thing in the past, after seeing his shadow during an arcane ritual. King Peter wants Chickenhare to recover the Groundhog, so his power can never be abused. However, Gina, one of the royal archivists, leads Chickenhare astray, after revealing herself as his secret sister. Her hidden ears leave little room for doubt. Unbeknownst to Chickenhare, Gina and her father, King Barthemelow hope to use the Groundhog to reverse a curse they believe afflicted their people hundreds of years ago.

Secret of the Groundhog is a sequel to Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness, which currently streams on Netflix, so there might be greater recognition for the Belgian-multi-national co-production than the general world of film criticism realizes. Regardless, the new film is a pleasantly upbeat riff on Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. The animation is professional but unremarkable. Nevertheless, some of the imagery is surprisingly cool.

There are no recognizable names among the English voice-cast, but nearly everyone sounds sufficiently expressive, as well as age- and character-appropriate. However, some parents might want to be warned of an implied lesbian relationship between Meg the skunk and Crolloq the lynx, one of Chickenhare’s less ethical adventurer rivals.

The new Chickenhare adventure rolls along at a healthy pace and the climactic time-altering business is reasonably clever. In fact, the combination of anthropomorphic animals and artefact hunting should appeal to young viewers. Recommended as a painless way to get the kids to shut-up for 90 minutes that could also entertain some of the adults, Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog opens this Friday (7/24) in the UK.