I was surprised that "Kensuke's Kingdom" got any theatical release at all in Canada, let alone by a lesser known distributor Blue Fox Entertainment, rather than, say, GKIDS. The movie turned out to be a sweet little gem, if not quite an essential one.Based on a novel, the story starts with a family making a new life on a small boat out on sea. The hint that this was due to the parents losing their jobs on land in the UK rings true and relevant to audiences today. Michael is the youngest in the family, and isn't happy with the situation, his only solice being the family dog he stowed away. During a particularly bad storm, Michael and the dog Stella gets washed away, ending up alone on a deserted island, with no signs of life in sight.Except they aren't quite alone. Slowly, they learn that another human, the old man Kensuke, already made a home deep in the forest. He's Japanese, and was marooned after the events of World War II, and was stuck there for decades. He doesn't speak a word of English, and Michael not a word of Japanese. Kensuke still retains natural Japanese mannerisms, such as offering fresh sashimi for food served in a basic but clean presentation, and Michael's not quite satisfied until he makes a fire to grill it. Being a Western child, Michael wanders everywhere and touches all of Kensuke's things, lacking the respect for others Kensuke would expect. They don't get along well at first, but eventually grow to live and work together on the island.The movie takes its time with its pacing. Michael doesn't get on the island until about 1/3 into the movie. But it doesn't feel slow, so this could be respected. Other elements of the story and setting are not far off from the 2016 film "The Red Turtle," except perhaps toned down a bit to appeal better to children. There is a certain maturity that helps the story feel much more timeless than I expected. For Kensuke, the nature on the island is like a second family to him, and in a late climax where poachers find the island, the fight to save local, gentle Orangutans isn't an exciting chase to save the day, but a real danger with real consequences. The way the story is handled helps elevate the film to be above average. 
A minor complaint of the story is Michael himself. At maybe 10 years of age, everything that goes wrong is because of his short-sighted mistakes. This isn't completely unexpected, and he grows out of this a bit in the second half of the movie, but you keep wanting to grab Michael out of the screen to stop him from doing something stupid or insensitive. Another minor thing is how stacked the voice cast is, including the likes of Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe. They're all very good, but say very little, even Ken as Kensuke (when realizing speaking Japanese is useless to Michael, Kensuke wisely doesn't bother to speak much at all). I imagine their participation in the movie was on the basis that they could record their lines on a lunch break. Instead, Aaron MacGregor as Michael carries the movie, and does a fine job, if you have the patience to stand the character. The animation production feels very British. The backgrounds are beautiful, and the animation is quite nice in a grounded, back-to-basics sort of way. But the character designs are also very plain, and there's a general lack of identity in the movie, both the visuals and the marketing materials. There are a couple clever moments when the style shifts, like to Michael's pen drawings in his notebook, or the Sumi-e-style ink paintings by Kensuke, to portray passage of time or memory flashbacks. While "Kensuke's Kingdom" might not be a bold standout triumph, it's still a surprisingly solid environmentalism movie. Compared to the (several) others of this genre, this might be the easiest one to recommend to a wide audience.