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Andrea Gronvall on the new release from Disney’s Touchstone Pictures: “Terra-cotta gnomes, the sort that decorate people’s lawns, are the characters of this bizarre feature animation, which lampoons the British obsession with gardening and upholds a long tradition of cartoons pitched to tots and stoners. On two adjoining backyards, armies of brightly painted figurines wage a relentless turf war; after a young blue gnome of the Montague household (given voice by James McAvoy) falls for the red princess of the next-door Capulet cottage (Emily Blunt), there’s some mild sexual innuendo and numerous obstacles to romance, not to mention a slew of puns, inside jokes, and tunes by Elton John. Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2) directed; with Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Patrick Stewart, and Ozzy Osbourne (as a spaced-out fawn).”
