So I watched motu patlu mission moon movie today and I want to start by saying something that genuinely surprised me this movie feels noticeably more confident than Wonderland. I reviewed Motu Patlu in Wonderland not too long ago and while I appreciated what that film was trying to do, I also felt it rushed through its own ideas too quickly and never fully committed to its best moments.
Mission Moon does not completely solve those problems but it does show clear improvement and that progression is honestly interesting to watch as someone going through these films in order. Anyway let me walk you through the whole thing.
Quick Details First
Motu Patlu Mission Moon released on 25 December 2013 so a Christmas Day premiere on Nick India. It is the second Motu Patlu movie ever made, coming just a few months after Wonderland which released in July 2013. The movie was directed by Suhas Kadav, written by Niraj Vikram and produced by Deepa Sahi and Anish JS Mehta under Maya Digital Studios. Runtime is about 71 minutes.
Saurav Chakraborty is back voicing Motu, Patlu, Dr. Jhatka and Inspector Chingum. The cast also includes Omee Sharma, Sankalp Rastogi, Roopa Bhimani, Khushboo Atre, Shailendra Pandey and Shrikant Naidu for the newer characters introduced in this film.
IMDb rating is 7.1 out of 10. That is a step up from Wonderland’s 6.8 and I think it reflects the improvement in storytelling quality fairly accurately.
What Actually Happens?
The movie opens on the Moon itself which immediately signals that this one is thinking bigger than Wonderland did. The Moon is cracking. Literally falling apart. Its surface is breaking up and losing shape and nobody on the Moon understands why at first.
Back on Earth things are not great either. Motu, Patlu, Dr. Jhatka and Ghasitaram are sitting down eating obviously when the ground starts shaking. Earthquakes hit Furfuri Nagar, cracks split open in the streets and Inspector Chingum shows up to manage the situation and immediately gets a car dropped on him. Very on brand. That night news reporters reveal the connection the earthquakes are happening because the Moon is losing its shape and its light.
Then we find out what is actually causing all of this. A villain named Drago has been extracting the Moon’s mud basically mining it and that extraction is what is destroying the Moon from the inside out. Without its mud the Moon deforms. Without its light the Moon’s inhabitants slowly lose their strength and eventually their lives.
The Moon King gathers his people and explains the crisis. But things get more complicated fast. Many Moon citizens have already been kidnapped and turned into robots by Drago. And then the Queen reveals the worst news their daughter Princess Chandni has been kidnapped too. The Moon royals decide enough is enough and prepare to go to war against Earth to stop what is happening.
Now here is the twist that I actually found clever. Princess Chandni is not simply being held captive somewhere helpless. She shows up at a key moment and uses a shrink gun on the Moon King himself shrinking his brain and causing him to behave erratically, getting angry at the wrong people and making confused decisions. So now the heroes not only have to deal with Drago but also with a Moon King who is not thinking clearly and could accidentally start a war at any moment. That added layer of complication gives the story a bit more texture than Wonderland had.
Eventually word reaches the Moon that two people on Earth might be capable of helping fix this entire situation. Those two people are of course Motu and Patlu. So our heroes get pulled into a mission that is genuinely bigger than anything in Furfuri Nagar stop Drago’s mud extraction operation, rescue Princess Chandni, restore the Moon to its original condition and prevent an all out war between Earth and the Moon.
The story builds toward Motu and Patlu navigating this space adventure, dealing with Drago’s robotic forces and finding a way to set everything right before the situation becomes irreversible.
What I Thought While Watching?
The first thing that struck me was how much more coherent the central conflict feels compared to Wonderland. In Wonderland the story had a lot of interesting pieces the tribe, the island, Robotus, the invisible fruits but they never quite connected into one smooth narrative. Mission Moon has one clear problem at its centre. The Moon is dying because of Drago. Everything else flows from that single cause and that structural clarity makes the movie easier to follow and more satisfying to watch.
Drago is also a more interesting villain than Robotus from Wonderland in one specific way his plan has real world consequences that you can actually feel. The earthquakes in Furfuri Nagar, the Moon slowly falling apart, the inhabitants losing strength all of it is connected to what one person is doing for profit. That cause and effect chain makes the stakes feel more grounded even within a completely fantastical setting.
The shrunken brain twist with the Moon King is the kind of creative detail I wished Wonderland had more of. It is genuinely funny, it creates an unpredictable element in the story and it means the heroes are dealing with multiple problems at once instead of just one straightforward obstacle.
That said the same core issue that affected Wonderland shows up here too. The movie still rushes. Interesting situations get introduced and then wrapped up faster than they deserve. The Moon world feels like it has a lot more to offer visually and story-wise than the 71 minute runtime allows for. I kept wanting the film to slow down and let me spend more time in this setting but it just keeps moving.
The comedy follows the same familiar patterns as always. Samosas, Chingum getting hit by things, John causing chaos. For kids watching this is completely fine and they will love it. For older viewers it does start to blend together after a while. But overall and I want to be clear about this Mission Moon is a better film than Wonderland. It is more focused, the villain’s plan has more weight and the story feels more purposefully constructed. You can genuinely sense the team getting more comfortable with the longer format between film one and film two.
Should You Watch It?
Yes, especially if you have already watched Wonderland. Watching these two back to back is actually pretty interesting because you can see the improvement in real time. Mission Moon takes the same creative team and the same characters and builds something a little more cohesive with them.
For kids it is a genuinely fun space adventure with colourful animation and enough action and comedy to hold their attention throughout. The Moon setting feels different enough from regular Motu Patlu content to keep things fresh. For older viewers it is a decent watch but keep your expectations in check. It is still a kids’ animated TV movie and it does not try to be anything beyond that. Enjoy it for what it is.
Where to Watch?
Available on Netflix and JioHotstar for streaming. JioHotstar is free for Indian users. It also airs on Nick India TV occasionally.
For a completely free option, the Sonic Gang Hindi Movies YouTube channel which is Nick India’s official channel has it available legally. Hindi version link here: https://youtu.be/2G0f3XoD8Kc
For other languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and more just search directly on the Sonic Gang YouTube channel and you should find the version you need.
Final Thoughts
Motu Patlu Mission Moon is not a perfect movie but it is a meaningful step forward for this franchise. The space setting is ambitious, the central conflict is well structured and the story shows a creative team that is learning how to tell longer stories with these characters. Compared to Wonderland it is tighter, more focused and more satisfying to sit through.
It is still not at the level of the best Motu Patlu films I have been covering more of these movies recently and I will be posting those reviews over the coming days, so stay tuned if you want to see how the franchise develops from here. But as the second entry in the Motu Patlu movie journey it does exactly what a second film should do. It builds on what came before and shows you that things are only going to get better.
That is all for today. Drop any movie requests in the comments and I will get to them. Thanks for reading.
“Keep watching, keep exploring!”
