202. Epic

Title: Epic
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family
Year: 2013

Summary: Following the death of her mother, Mary Katherine (a.k.a. M.K.), a 17 year old teenager, moves in with her estranged and eccentric scientist father, Professor Bomba, who has been searching for tiny human soldiers, about which M.K. is skeptical. She wants her father to stop his work. Unknown to the both of them, Bomba is right that there are tiny soldiers called Leafmen. They protect the forest Bomba lives near from evil creatures called Boggans (who shoot arrows that can kill any living thing) and their malevolent leader Mandrake who plans to destroy the forest. An independent young soldier, Nod decides to quit, much to the ire of the no-nonsense Leafmen leader Ronin who wants Nod to learn about teamwork.

The queen of the forest, Queen Tara, who is aware of Ronin's apparent attraction to her, decides to choose an heir to her throne and goes out to a field of leaf pods, guarded by a laid-back slug named Mub and an uptight snail named Grub. Tara chooses the smallest pod as the heir. Immediately after doing so, the Boggans attack. Tara flees the area with the pod, and though her bodyguards do their best to protect her, they are soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Boggans. Tara uses her magic to slow down her pursuers, and is at one point rescued by a flower child who idolizes her. Eventually, Ronin arrives for her and the pair fly off on Ronin's hummingbird mount. They are then attacked by Mandrake and his son Dagda. Dagda is killed by Ronin, but Tara is shot by Mandrake, and falls off Ronin's bird into the forest.

Meanwhile, M.K., annoyed at her father, decides to leave and leaves a note on one of his security monitors. Before she can leave, the family's one-eyed, three-legged dog, Ozzie, runs into the woods. While looking for Ozzie, M.K. sees Tara falling. A dying Tara gives her the pod and uses her magic to shrink her. She tells M.K. to take the pod to a Glowworm named Nim Galuu before she dies. After meeting Ronin and the Leafmen, along with Mub and Grub, a confused and scared M.K. joins them. Ronin discovers that Nod has entered a race against other creatures and bugs on birds. He goes back on a deal with a tough bullfrog named Bufo. Before Bufo and his gypsy moth and scorpionfly goons can kill Nod, Ronin intervenes and orders the goons to leave. A reluctant Nod joins him , M.K., Mub, and Grub after hearing about Tara's death and falling for M.K.

They eventually find Nim Galuu, who is a showman and keeper of magic scrolls that tell what has occurred during the times, in a tree. After learning about Tara's death, he leads the group down to the scrolls, where M.K. discovers Tara's brief message before shrinking her, and a message that will get her back to normal size. When Ronin leaves, Nod takes M.K. on a enthralling deer ride, where they fall in love. Mandrake (to whom Bufo fearfully reveals the location of the pod, which he overheard from Ronin and Nod) arrives and kidnaps Mub and Grub and imprisons them, along with the pod, which he hopes to bloom in darkness to destroy the forest. To get into Boggan territory undiscovered, M.K., Nod, and Ronin set out to Bomba's house to get some disguises, where M.K. learns that her father is what the Leafmen call a "stomper" and have been leading Bomba off their trail. After getting the disguises, Ozzie (who earlier returns to Bomba's house) sees M.K. and chases her, catching Bomba's attention. He sees the group and catches M.K., but faints after seeing her. Before leaving, M.K. marks where the Leafmen territory is on one of Bomba's maps with a red push-pin.

When they reach the Boggan land, which is a wasteland of dead trees, Ronin distracts the Boggans while M.K. and Nod rescue Mub, Grub, and the pod. They are eventually found out by Mandrake, who summons the Boggans to stop them. M.K., Nod, Mub, and Grub escape alive, but Ronin sacrifices himself to ensure their escape. Before the full moon can sprout the pod at Moonhaven with moonlight, Mandrake's bats block the light, causing the pod to begin sprouting in darkness. When the Leafmen set out to fight the Boggans (with Grub unsuccessfully joining them) M.K. sets out to get her father for assistance, but an exasperated Bomba, after regaining consciousness, decides to give up on what he has been doing to find his daughter and shuts off all his cameras, believing that he didn't really see M.K. and that he's been insane all his years, but changes his mind when he sees the push-pin in his map.

After locating M.K., Bomba is overjoyed to see that he has been right and when he follows M.K. to Moonhaven, he (with his daughter's persuasion) uses his iPod to make bat sounds, causing the bats to follow Bomba. Meanwhile, Mub and Nim Galuu try to stop Mandrake from reaching the pod, but are unsuccessful. Just then, Ronin appears, bearing scars and bruises from Boggans. Mandrake manages to outdo him, but Ronin is defended by Nod, who earlier finally understands the importance of teamwork. Before Mandrake can obtain his victory, the moonlight takes over the pod before it blooms in darkness, causing it to bloom in light and Mandrake gets sucked into a tree. It also heals the forest after much damage from the Boggans.

The chosen heir is the flower child who idolized and saved Tara earlier in the film. Grub becomes a Leafman, Nod and Ronin reconcile, and Nod and M.K. hug and kiss and become a couple before M.K. is given back her original height by the new queen. After reuniting with Bomba and becoming his assistant, the reunited human family still keep regular contact with their new small friends (M.K. with her boyfriend Nod) as they continue the research of the world in their home.