“Strange World” follows the Clade family after entering an alternate world beneath their city on a mission to restore energy to their futuristic utopia. Yet, when familial scars show their teeth, the creatures of this new world aren’t the only thing keeping the Clades from saving their home.

The strongest element of “Strange World” comes down to characters’ interactions. Since every main character falls from the Clade family tree, audiences witness the different dynamics between each generation. The film executes story arcs to explore a variety of relationships, including husband-wife and mother-son dynamics. One prominent storyline follows how a hunger for fame and exploration rears its head from generation to generation between three Clade men: Jaeger (Dennis Quaid), his son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) and grandson Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White). “Strange World” prides itself on developing relationships to feed into the theme of family and familial trauma that can be passed down through generations.

Like most Walt Disney Animation Studios productions, “Strange World” stands out as a gorgeous master class in world-building. Each creature, such as the sea urchin-like monsters that chase the heroes throughout the movie, showcase well-developed traits and backstories. In addition, the film’s well-developed landscape creates a world that feels vast and mysterious, with the hues of plants, rocks and the sky bringing a gentle ambiance to an otherwise tension-filled, high-energy film.

Despite wonderful characters and a well-developed visual style, “Strange World” defaults to the same cliches as many other Disney stories, consistently playing the safe route with dangerous elements like monsters and near-death chase sequences. The movie’s stakes feel underdeveloped, and its primary twist feels manufactured to fill the runtime. Due to this issue of the movie delving into the typical Disney tropes, humor suffers greatly, with the film’s only successful joke being a humorous nod to Disney’s tendency to make merchandise of cute animal sidekicks. While Disney Animation consistently makes landmark steps in the film industry, having a movie retreat back to usual tropes and designs feels lazy.

While the film’s characters and remarkable animation stand out, “Strange World” offers nothing beyond a strangely bland viewing experience. The story itself feels shallow and empty, failing to venture out beyond the safety nets established by previous family-friendly movies. Audiences will find enjoyment in this fun family flick but will ultimately walk out feeling as if they wasted an afternoon.

3 marketable blue blobs out of 5