Review of Wonder Park

The other day I had to babysit 3 kids and they asked me if I can put on Wonderpark. Their mother left it there so they can watch it. While I was expecting to watch another lame kids movie I was aghast to find out what Wonderpark was really about. It was a very deep and memorable film teaching kids how to be strong in times of struggle. From the start we find that the girl June has a highly active imagination, like most kids.

She has dreams of Wonderpark and creates rides and characters from her dreams for all the kids in the neighborhood to enjoy. It consists of talking magical animals and extravagant rollercoasters. She destroyed most of the neighborhood when trying to create a rollercoaster outside so her parents persuade her to start creating figurines and mini coasters inside of the house. Her mother always played with the monkey when they played together.

Eventually her mom gets a phone call with bad news from the doctor that she is sick and her mother starts to get weak. She decides to go out of state to get treatment and there was a very sad goodbye. She was gone for about a year or so. June started putting away her wonder park things due to her sadness. To distract herself, she starts going through great lengths to make sure her father doesn't get sick. He then sends her off to math camp to get her going. In order to get off the bus and tend to her father, she conspires with her best friend (who is also in love with her). He pretends to throw up on the bus, I suppose the bus driver cleans the bus out and she is able to make her escape.

While running through the forest to get back home a paper with her mothers name on it flies in front of her face and it guides her to the imaginary world of wonder park. When she gets there wonder park is all run down. She meets up with all of the talking animals from wonder park and watches and they defeat some talking toys. Then June meets up with the animals to talk about what's going on in the park.

June: All these amazing things in Wonderland came from you. Peanut (the monkey who represents her): That is a lie. I was just the middleman. All the ideas, the inspiration, it came from… June: A voice whispering in your ear. A woman’s voice. Peanut: How do you know about that? I never told anyone. June: It doesn’t matter. And not too long ago… Peanut: The sound of her voice, it just… Peanut, June: …went away. June: And then the Darkness took over. Peanut: I guess whoever she was, she forgot about me. I kept waiting. I kept hoping she would come back to help me fight against the Darkness, but I just felt so… June: Alone.

In this scene June sees herself through from a different perspective. She understands now that the reason she stopped building all of her Wonder Park toys is because they represent her mom and she believes that Wonder Park is nothing without her mom.

She realizes that her mom would want her to stay strong for her and continue living for her.

June: Because I built this place. My mom and I did. But she got sick and had to stop, and I got scared. So scared of losing her that I lost myself. And she would hate to see how I changed. How we’ve all changed.

My favorite quote is when Greta (the wild boar) tells June that the darkness is still there and she says:

Maybe it’ll never really fully go away. Maybe it’s there to remind us to look at the light that surrounds us.

At the end of the movie her mom comes back and they create Wonderpark again for the whole neighborhood to enjoy. This movie definitely made me cry and I love the lesson it teaches to young kids. I asked my little brother what he learned from it and he said, "It taught me about family". It taught him the value of family, staying strong in the midst of troubling times, and the importance of being true to who you are. What we feed the minds of our children is important. It is good to know that films like this one is doing its part in helping kids grow. It is good for them to know that they are the wonder in Wonderland.