Don’t You Mean Wonderland?

Wonder Park puts the wonder in “I wonder why I even bothered to watch?” There have been plenty of Nickelodeon movies based on existing Nicktoons. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Barnyard are the only theatrical movies that became TV shows later on. Wonder Park was meant to be the third, but Adventures in Wonder Park looks just as bad as the original. Unlike The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius or Back at the Barnyard that either matched or surpassed the original. Wonder Park has many problems that failed to endear it as a beloved Nicktoon. The original title was Amusement Park, but they changed it to Wonder Park even though the movie’s amusement park is clearly called Wonderland.

There are obvious parallels to Alice in Wonderland, but why call it something you’re not gonna use as a title? Wonder Park is all about June and the imaginative park she creates with her mother. I have a big imagination too, but most of their ideas are corny and by the numbers. The computer animation may be colorful, but the characters are too bland to warrant the effort. They’re all just anthropomorphic animals. The cast is big even though the material is weak. I guess the director was also fired for misconduct. Matthew Broderick is June’s concerned father and Jennifer Garner is June’s creative mother who falls victim to off-screenitus.

A literal Darkness overcomes Wonderland and June discovers her made up world is real. Norbert Leo Butz voices the chimpanzee mascot Peanut who creates park attractions by listening to voices in his head. John Oliver voices an unfunny porcupine named Steve, Mila Kunis continually snorts as a wild boar named Gerta, Ken Hudson Campbell is the oafish blue bear Boomer, and Kenan Thompson & Ken Jeong are a pair of angry beavers named Gus & Cooper. I guarantee you’ll forget everyone after watching. Like Tomorrowland, another problem is mostly seeing the amusement park when it’s a barren wasteland. When stuffed Chimpanzombies overtake Wonderland, June must restore the park and learn an obvious lesson along the way. Wonder Park is nowhere near as splendiferous as it thinks it is.

June and the Wonderland crew