▁a ▁perfect ▁indic ation ▁of ▁the ▁limited ▁imagination ▁which ▁went ▁into ▁writing ▁The ▁P eb ble ▁and ▁the ▁P engu in ". ▁The ▁Free ▁L ance – Star ▁said ▁the ▁film ▁got ▁a ▁" ch arm ing ▁m ating ▁rit ual " ▁and ▁turned ▁it ▁into ▁" s appy ▁action ▁rom ance ▁with ▁celebr ity ▁voices ". ▁The ▁book ▁Contempor ary ▁North ▁American ▁Film ▁Direct ors ▁suggested ▁that ▁the ▁film ▁suffered ▁from ▁" the ▁same ▁un im agin ative ▁and ▁cl ich ed ▁Disney ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁that ▁Bl uth ▁had ▁been ▁so ▁critical ▁of ". ▁The ▁Anim ated ▁Movie ▁Guide ▁said , ▁" the ▁hero ▁was ▁a ▁st utter ing ▁w imp , ▁the ▁songs ▁didn ' t ▁advance ▁the ▁plot , ▁the ▁dialog ue ▁was ▁in cess ant ▁and ▁super fl uous , ▁and ▁the ▁p acing ▁was ▁pl od ding ▁and ▁d ull ". ▁ ▁Some ▁critics ▁did ▁pra ise ▁various ▁aspects ▁of ▁the ▁film , ▁however , ▁particularly ▁in ▁regard ▁to ▁Bl uth ' s ▁animation . ▁These ▁reviews , ▁however , ▁were ▁almost ▁exclus ively ▁mixed . ▁Common ▁S ense ▁Media ▁said , ▁" the ▁background ▁animation ▁of ▁cap r icious ▁weather ▁conditions ▁is ▁lov ely , ▁as ▁are ▁the ▁top - not ch ▁original ▁songs ▁by ▁Barry ▁Man il ow ▁and ▁Mark ▁Wat ters ". ▁Des er et ▁News ▁said : ▁" Bl uth ' s ▁strength ▁continues ▁to ▁be ▁color ful , ▁classical - style ▁animation , ▁and ▁there ▁are ▁some