A teenager who works in the sloth’s family restaurant seeks life in the fast-food lane in this bland animated adventure

The idea of a kids’ animation about sloths – those shaggy balls of furry happiness with mellow stoner smiles – feels like a winner. But, disappointingly, the sloths in this kids’ animation don’t look much like sloths, nor do they seem to act anything like their real-life counterparts. The movie is the latest from The Tales from Sanctuary City, an Australian franchise set in a vegan metropolis where animals have learnt to coexist in harmony. Like the earlier movies in the series, it’s perfectly adequate for little kids but with little character of its own and a straight-to-download-style blandness.

Essentially, this is a film about foodies and the delights of slow cooking. Laura (voiced by Teo Vergara) is a rebellious teenage sloth from the sticks who works in the family restaurant, cooking recipes handed down for generations. But Laura longs to live at a faster pace than her parents, and gets her wish after a storm destroys their village. The family is forced to relocate to Sanctuary City and make a fresh start, opening a food truck selling enchiladas and tamales. Laura even meets her culinary hero, fast-food entrepreneur Dotti Pace (Leslie Jones), a cheetah in cowboy boots and rhinestones.