If I didn’t know any better, one would suspect that we’re living in the age of eco-fables — stories about animals, environmental conservation and, most importantly, communal responsibility.
Swapped, set in a semi-fantasy forest where animal-plant hybrids live, is the third eco-fable in my recent memory. The Wild Robot, about a malfunctioning robot who becomes the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose and a semi-protector of the animal island habitat, came out in September 2024. Pixar’s Hoppers, about an animal-loving youngster who transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver and becomes a friend and saviour of their natural environment, came out this March.
Like Swapped, thankfully, not one of these films featured romantic subplots that ham-fistedly hinted at same-sex (or in these cases, inter-species) relationships. Like Hoppers and The Wild Robot, Swapped prefers to focus on telling a good story without politics. I think we’re finally at the end of what seemed like a very long era.
Directed by Nathan Greno (Tangled, 2010) with a screenplay by John Whittington (The Lego Batman Movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3), the story may seem unremarkable at first.
Swapped joins a growing wave of eco-fables, blending narrative charm, anthropomorphic animals, nature-based settings, world-building and family-friendly appeal
Ollie (voice acted by Michael B. Jordan) is a Pookoo — a small, furry critter akin to a hamster or a beaver, whose inquisitive nature has been the bane of his species. When he was young, his inventive mind compelled him to swim underwater with a makeshift oxygen pipe (he was saved in the nick of time by his dad, voiced by Cedric the Entertainer).
Later, he tried befriending a young Javan (a green bird that’s something like a kakapo and a secretary bird) named Caloo, who calls other Javans and raids the Pookoo’s food source. Years later, they are on the brink of extinction because their rations and supplies are all used up.
Ollie accidentally finds himself transformed into a Javan when he falls on to an enchanted pod buried in the depths of a hole in the ground, where the remains of a fantastical, majestic creature called the Dzo lie. The Dzo, as far as stories go, were killed by a Firewolf — a wolf with tree-like hair that burns with perpetual fire, who once burned the forest down.
Ollie meets Ivy (Juno Temple), the Javan he introduced to the Pookoo’s food supply years ago, who too is ‘swapped’ into a Pookoo by another enchanted pod. The two are befriended by a Boogle (Tracy Morgan), a somewhat silly multi-coloured fish who guides them towards other enchanted pods that lie in the remains of other Dzos.
Although produced by Skydance Animation, the film carries that elusive ‘Pixar’ touch, probably because one of the producers is ex-Pixar chief John Lasseter. The quality control in both animation and storytelling is hard to dismiss, as is the perfect placement of emotions.
This is a film for adults and children. This reviewer watched it with his four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and she loved every minute of it — and most importantly — followed nearly all the turns of the story, with the right mix of awe, attention and excitement.
The colours are bright, the animation excellent, making you feel the plight and the happiness. Like The Wild Robot and Hoppers (we father and daughter watched the latter together as well), there’s a genuineness to the story, and the perfect utilisation of technology. What’s not to love and revisit? Perhaps eco-fables are the future. Who knew!
Streaming on Netflix, Swapped is rated suitable for ages 10 and over and features some scenes that may scare children. Smaller fries can keep their eyes open for the most part.
The writer is Icon’s primary film reviewer
Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2026
