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Throughout its 93-minute run, the 3-D animated film “Meraih Mimpi” (the official English title is “Sing to the Dawn”) manages to both impress and underwhelm. It would be unfair to compare it to, say, a Pixar or Dreamworks production, but taking into consideration that it is a local production, the visuals are impressive enough, although the underlying story and characters fail to connect with older members of the audience. This is an entertaining animated flick, but one that focuses strictly on young children.

“Meraih Mimpi” is based on the book “Sing to the Dawn,” written by Thai author Minfung Ho. While the book focuses more on the relationship and rivalry between the main character and her brother, the movie centers more on the adventure aspects of the book.

“Meraih Mimpi” — which translates as “Reaching Dreams” — was released internationally in Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Russia last year before it premiered in Indonesia. It is certainly a proud achievement for the Indonesian film industry. The animation was handled by Infinite Frameworks — a Batam-based production company that employs 150 people, only five of whom are foreign nationals. The film reportedly took three years and $5 million to produce.

The movie tells the story of Dana (voiced by teen singer Gita Gutawa), who lives in a traditional village with her little brother, Rai (Patton, of “Junior Idol” fame), father Somad (Ully Herdiansyah) and grandmother (Jajang C. Noer).

The village is ruled by Pairot (Surya Saputra), a ruthless businessman whose wardrobe features an Elvis-style jumpsuit and wig, and who overburdens the villagers with exorbitantly high taxes. He claims ownership of the village after telling the residents that he has a testament written by King Ramelan, bequeathing him the land.

Unbeknownst to the villagers, Pairot is hatching an evil scheme to demolish the village and turn it into a Vegas-style casino town.

After discovering Pairot’s plan, Dana — with the help of her brother — leaps into action to save the village. Under the guidance of the village’s resident crazy old man, Dana also tries to obtain the original King Ramelan testament, which embroils the siblings in an adventure that could be straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.

Along the way, numerous characters are introduced, including the villain Ben, who is Pairot’s son (voiced by well-known local celebrity Indra Bekti), and myriad cutesy animals who, unlike in the book, are able to talk — perhaps to engage the children in the audience a bit more.

“Meraih Mimpi” certainly packs a lot of things into its relatively limited time frame. The high-flying adventure sequences and talking animals alone should guarantee enough of a good time for the young ones.

As a result, a few things that could have given the film a little more weight have been sidelined. Significant issues such as the clash between Dana’s sense of feminist rights and her father’s patriarchal rule are given short shrift.

When Dana wins a scholarship, and her brother is named runner-up, her father says to Rei, “Don’t worry, Dana will give you her scholarship,” because he does not believe a girl needs education. This scene also shows the seeds of rivalry between Dana and Rei that — unlike in the book — are never truly developed.

The film also includes original music, which is your basic pop fare (which Gita excels at), though enhanced by rich arrangements that include a few traditional Indonesian instruments.

As a much-hyped animated film, “Meraih Mimpi” has a lot going against it. The biggest problem might be that modern audiences are already accustomed to the sublime animation and rich story-telling of American 3-D films such as “Ratatouille” or “Wall-E.” Fortunately, what “Meraih Mimpi” does have going for it outweighs the minuses by a healthy margin.

Disregarding the rather slow pace and awkward voice acting — some lines like “I’m going with or without you” are obviously translated directly from English — the film’s humor and quirky animal characters should ensure kids have a great time, while grown-ups should appreciate the quality of the animation, music and direction.

‘Meraih Mimpi’
Directed by Phil Mohamad Mitchell
Produced by Kalyana Shira Film
Screenplay by Philip Stamp and Nia Dinata
Voiced by Aluna Sagita Gutawa, Patton, Uli Herdinansyah and Surya Saputra
Indonesian, 93 Minutes