FernGully: The Last Rainforest is a 1992 independent animated musical fantasy film. The feature directorial debut by Bill Kroyer, FernGully was scripted by Jim Cox and adapted from the "FernGully" stories by Diana Young. The film is an Australian and American venture produced by Kroyer Films, Inc., Youngheart Productions, FAI Films, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars the voices of Tim Curry, Samantha Mathis, Christian Slater, Jonathan Ward, Robin Williams, and Grace Zabriskie. FernGully is set in an Australian rainforest inhabited by fairies, including Crysta, who accidentally shrinks a young logger named Zak to the size of a fairy. Together, they rally the fairies and the animals of the rainforest to protect their home from the loggers and Hexxus, a malevolent pollution entity. Wayne Young, the film's producer, said that the film was "blatantly environmental", although he made an effort to avoid "preaching".
The film was released to mainly positive reviews, and was generally considered a moderate financial success at both the box office and in home video sales. In 1998, it was followed by a direct-to-video sequel, FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue, although none of the original voice cast reprised their roles.
Plot
Crysta is a fairy of curious nature who lives in FernGully, a picturesque rainforest free from human pollution. The fairies of FernGully once lived in harmony with humans, who are believed to be extinct after having been driven away by a dark and evil spirit of destruction, Hexxus. Crysta is the apprentice of Magi, the fairy tribe's leader, who ended Hexxus' reign by sealing him inside a tree.
One day, Crysta explores a new part of the forest and meets Batty Koda, a bat who was experimented on by humans, giving him a manic and deluded personality, and an electric device sticking out of his head. Crysta accompanies Batty to investigate the humans' potential return. She meets Zak, a young lumberjack who Crysta inadvertently shrinks when she tries saving him from being crushed by a falling tree, although she does not know how to restore him to normal size. After she saves him from being eaten by Lou, a hungry goanna, Zak gains Crysta's trust and agrees to go with her to Ferngully so Magi can unshrink him. Along the way, they bond by talking about their lives, but Zak hides the true reason for the humans' return.
The tree in which Hexxus is imprisoned is cut down by Zak's supervisors, Tony and Ralph, having accidentally been marked by Zak when he used his spray can to deal with a pesky fly. Hexxus quickly begins to regain his powers by eating the machine's polluting elements. He tricks Tony and Ralph into driving to FernGully.
In FernGully, Zak meets Pips, a fairy who is jealous of Zak's relationship with Crysta. Zak begins to fall in love with Crysta. When Crysta sees the forest's pollution caused by Hexxus and the machine, she gets mad at Zak for lying to her. Zak finally admits that humans are destroying the forest. The fairies mount an attempt to defend their homes. Knowing their fight is hopeless, Zak convinces Batty to help him stop the machine before it destroys them. After Zak makes his presence known to Tony and Ralph, Hexxus takes over the machine and begins to wildly destroy the forest.
Meanwhile, Magi sacrifices herself to give the fairies a chance, and she tells Crysta to remember everything she has learned. Zak disables the machine, depriving Hexxus of the source of his power, but he manifests himself within the oil in the machine and begins to set the forest ablaze. Crysta allows herself to be devoured by Hexxus, and all seems lost until he begins to sprout limbs and leaves like a tree. Pips and the rest of the fairies rally to the powers given by Magi, which causes the seed that Crysta fed Hexxus to wildly start growing. Hexxus and the machine are both imprisoned by the newly grown tree at FernGully's border, which bursts into bloom.
With FernGully saved, Crysta reunites with Zak and succeeds Magi as the magical leader of the fairy clan. She gives Zak a seed, asking him to remember everything that has transpired, and she forlornly restores him to his human size. Remembering the seed in his hand, Zak promises to remember his adventure and buries the seed in the soil before telling Tony and Ralph that things need to change, as they leave the forest behind. Touched by his act, Crysta helps the seed to sprout new growth for FernGully, before playfully chasing Pips, with Batty following.
