From the Turkish broadcaster that gave Pakistan Ertugrul Ghazi fever, TRT returns to our cinemas – this time with an animated rabbit saving the world, not an Ottoman warrior.
Smart Rabbit Momo: The Big Chase, a computer-animated feature produced by TRT and 9D Medya, is now showing in cinemas across Pakistan, dubbed in Urdu through a partnership with Hum Network.
The film premiered in Los Angeles earlier this year before landing in Pakistan. Directed by Mahmut Hasan and written by Gül Ebru Turna and Serap Özgür, it stars familiar local voices like Faisal Quraishi (as Momo), Hira Mani (as magical Parlak), and Mani (as villainous Shadow). But even their vocal charisma can’t breathe life into a script that feels like it was generated via prompt. Dialogue sounds like it has been run through Google Translate, missing rhythm, subtlety, and all nuance.
Based on a TRT Kids series, the plot follows Momo, a hyper-intelligent rabbit, as he races to rescue his kidnapped friend Timtim from a mysterious villain. The journey zips from tranquil forest to bustling city, filled with action, chase scenes, and moral-of-the-story moments. But the execution is predictable.
Despite the immense manpower and evident production value, Momo is strangely uninspired.
Even the character names – Momo, Timtim, Yumi – feel like placeholders from a children’s sticker book.
The animation, though clean and kinetic, lacks any stylistic signature. To its credit, the film’s production spanned over five years and involved more than 850 professionals, including 150 animation specialists, a massive collaborative feat. But the final product feels mechanical. Animation can and often does deliver profound emotional storytelling (Inside Out, The Breadwinner, Pakistan’s own The Glassworker).
It is all high frame rate gloss, no grit, no texture, and certainly no wonder. Think of a cutscene in a mobile game.
This is especially disheartening considering how far Pakistani animation has come. The Donkey King managed to be both political and playful. Burka Avenger was sharp, satirical, and rooted in its cultural context. And The Glassworker offered painterly elegance and emotional depth. Compared to these, Momo feels like an imported distraction, polished, expensive, and ultimately hollow.
At its heart, Smart Rabbit Momo is a well-intentioned product designed to entertain, and that is fine. The film might certainly amuse younger audiences for 90 minutes. But animation is a powerful medium, capable of shaping worldviews, sparking empathy, and inspiring curiosity. And in that regard, Momo does not trust its audience enough to give them more than noise and movement.
For a film that took five years to make, it leaves surprisingly little behind.
