Approved for All Ages

Brightheart, Let Your Light Shine

1
Negative Rating
12345
SexLanguageViolenceDrugsNudityOther
8
Positive Rating
12345
FaithIntegrity

Dove Review

Brightheart is a busy little firefly! On dark nights, she is the only source of light for her little village and delights in leading her friends safely home. Loved by all for her kindness, bravery and leadership, Brightheart is voted Super Hero by the ardent arthropods. They appoint the fearless Brightheart as leader of their critter posse to catch a thief who has been pilfering their food after dark. Brightheart, bug friends and one frog, Albert, who lives to protect his big diamond ring, wind up apprehending this food thief, Solomon.

Meanwhile, a bright, new light is seen racing across the sky. Enter Aurora, a tiny explorer robot sent to gather interplanetary information. She’s landed close by and quickly becomes the favored star in the enamored eyes of Bugville as she displays a sky full of beautiful, colored lights. Feeling very unappreciated, Brightheart suffers a dark mood change — from brilliant bright to dark-as-night. Her only consolation comes from an unexpected source — Solomon, the ninja-like, comical food thief. Now Solomon isn’t really that bad of a guy, but has been forced to steal food by the overbearing and cruel King Cyrus the Fat Rat, who would also like to harness Brightheart’s abilities for his food-hoarding purposes.

Innocently believing King Cyrus can help Brightheart become the world’s most luminous light, Solomon convinces her to approach the rotund rodent. Twigg, the king’s villainous locust lackey, deceptively leads the way. But when Brightheart realizes her light will be used to steal, she’s out. This does not please the royal rat, and Twigg escorts the unsuspecting Brightheart to the big bug zapper. Just in time, to Solomon’s relief, Aurora short circuits the zapper, enabling Brightheart and him to escape. From then on, King Cyrus and Twigg make dastardly attempts on their lives. Even though Aurora and Brightheart use all the power they can muster, a formidable weapon deployed by King Rat threatens the very existence of Bugville. Until Brightheart realizes that as long as there is light, there is hope!

Brightheart, Let Your Light Shine is a film full of vibrant, colorful life. Very well produced, visually, vocally and score wise, Brightheart easily rivals any Disney counterpart. I found the message of inner, hopeful light encouraging, as well as the point that light on the inside is more important than outside light. Aurora’s character is constantly discovering simple truths and acts as a vehicle for learning moral lessons. However, the filmmakers missed a lesson opportunity by not stressing character growth from consequences caused by Albert’s devotion to his diamond ring. The ring just fizzled out when it was lost. A big plus though, is a scene where all the village prays for Brightheart. Disney can’t hold a candle to that!

Dove awards the All Ages Seal of Approval to Brightheart, Let Your Light Shine.

The Dove Take:

Brightheart, Let Your Light Shine, a well-produced animated film, illuminates the message that hope is the true light and encourages us to shine from within.

Dove Rating Details

3
Faith

Characters call for prayer and pray for main character’s healing

5
Integrity

Bug characters are zapped to death.

0
Sex

None

0
Language

The word ‘butt’ is used frequently.

1
Violence

Bug characters are zapped to death.

0
Drugs

None

0
Nudity

None

0
Other

Production quality is excellent.

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