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Though they applauded the animation and visual style of the family film, viewers were reportedly unnerved by “Marco Returns To The Desert”’s narrative similarities to the second Gulf War.
The film follows kindhearted, naive bunny rabbit Marco’s attempts to make new friends in the desert. Marco sets off on the expensive trip when he is warned by his good friend the snake that there are rabbit hunters with new rabbit hunting guns. Many reported having trouble believing that the numerous similarities to President George W. Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq were all purely coincidence.
“There was a subtitle in the beginning that specified that it was 2003,” said viewer Erin Malloy, who felt she had to leave the theatre after Marco stirred up the local population when he accidentally knocked down the statue of the Desert King, a mustached crocodile named Adam. “It’s a movie about talking animals. It doesn’t matter that it was 2003.”
Added Malloy, “For god’s sake, the snake’s name was Snake Cheney and they only ever used his full name. ‘Snake Cheney.’ ‘Snake Cheney.’”
Others complained that while the musical number in which the desert mice and the desert voles argue about whether they should worship the sun or the moon was catchy, it was disrespectful towards the men and women who had lost their lives in the actual eight year conflict.
“I’m driving home and my kids are singing about the correct succession of the great sky rodent,” complained Stephen Daniels. "Even I’ve got it stuck in my head. It’s eerie.”
The depiction of Marco’s reluctant friends, a poodle in a beret who is always whining about wanting to go home and a lethargic kangaroo who refuses to put his weight behind his punches, have also drawn international complaints.
Not all of the movie’s detractors focus on the apparent similarities between the film and what is almost universally considered a tragic foreign policy blunder. Some believe that is simply too commercial.
“So Marco deposes Adam and puts his friend Albert in charge of the desert,” said 23-year-old Nick Carcirelli, noting that Albert was literally a sock puppet brought to life. “But Marco ends up leaving the desert way worse than when he came! There’s that moment at the end when the pillar falls down and Albert facepalms and you just know, you just know, that they’re setting up for a spinoff. It’s shameless.”
Carcirelli speculated that the spinoff would probably revolve around a radical group of desert mice laying claim to the whole desert.
Children in the audience took more kindly to the film, describing Marco as a lovable, humorous character despite his numerous mishaps.
“When he was waving his arms and making all those silly sounds, that was funny,” said 9-year-old Kristen Bingham about the scene in which Marco tries and fails to communicate with the desert animals. “And all the animals who got their houses destroyed seemed really excited about the chance to build new houses. Marco promised he’d help, so it’ll be okay for them.”
Other children seemed to take away a moral message from the film. 11-year-old Jaelin Stewart said, “It doesn’t matter that they didn’t find any rabbit hunting guns. If Adam had just let the hunting guns inspectors in, there wouldn’t have been a problem.”
“Besides, they shouldn’t have been keeping all the carrots to themselves,” added Stewart. “Marco loves carrots.”
