In Smallfoot, living in an isolated mountain top does not keep the cheer away from the Yeti’s, who are also knows as Abdominal Snowmen or Bigfoot. In fact, the snowier it gets the better it is in this 3D animated feature from Warner Animation Group second original, but first musical animation (their first was Storks).

The Yeti are peaceful creatures with a society of their own, who are happily living on top of a mountain covered in snow. They work in coordination, and are busy singing songs in favor of status the quo (“Perfection” via status quo, actually is the title of the song they sing). They are encouraged to let things be and not question the law of the land that is written in stone and preached by their leader, The Stonekeeper (actor, rapper Common). The Stonekeeper wears these laws on his body as a decoration, forbidding anyone to go down the mountain, where there is nothingness.

One of the job the Yeti do every day is gong-banging, so the ‘light snail’ (their word for the Sun) may rise and bring light to the village. Dorgle (Danny DeVito) is the gong banger and Migo (Channing Tatum), his son, is the future gong-banger. Migo is happy not asking questions, following the rule till one day he comes face to face with a human – which in Yeti-terms is a ‘Smallfoot’ (ergo, the title).

Migo tries to convince everyone of what he has seen, but he is ostracized. He acquit himself, he goes down the mountain, with the support of the girl he likes (Meechee, voice acted by Zendaya), and her group of radical freethinkers (LeBron James, Gina Rodriguez and Ely Henry). On land, a failed nature host is ready to make his producer don a Yeti costume and make a viral video of a sighting. Soon enough, there is no room to pretend.

Original songs and reimagines like Under Pressure are fantastic, and Let It Lie by Common stands out.

The underlying message of Smallfoot is that questions are good, and critical thinking should be encouraged. It has a lot to offer in the food-for-thought department, but not so much that it becomes heavy to digest. Targeted for a younger audience, Smallfoot is cute and enlightening.•