Curious George (DVD)
APPROX. 88 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2006 - MPA RATING: G
" ...a cute, straightforward film that will surely amuse the tykes.
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In 1941, German author H.A. and Margret Ray began a hugely popular series of illustrated children's books about an overly inquisitive, little monkey named George and his friend, the aptly-named Man in the Yellow Hat. My introduction to the Curious George books originally came from the animated shorts that aired on Nickelodeon. Now, George has made the leapt to the big-screen in this feature-length film that eschews the current trend towards computer animation for traditional hand-drawn cels.
Will Ferrell lends his voice to the Man in the Yellow Hat, who is now Ted, a museum curator with a rather dry approach to his lectures. He doesn't exactly wow the school children that come in, but he does draw the fancy of their pretty teacher, Maggie (Drew Barrymore). Of course, Ted is completely oblivious to her flirtations. Plus, the kids aren't the only ones uninterested in the museum as attendance is at an all-time low.
Now that he's broke, the museum owner, Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke), reluctantly decides to shut the place down. The only person happy about this decision is Bloomsberry's son, Junior (David Cross), who hopes to turn the museum into a parking garage. Junior also has a severe case of envy whenever his father dotes on Ted, instead of him.
The museum's only hope lies on the mysterious Lost Shrine of Zagawa, a legendary 40-foot artifact somewhere in the jungles of Africa. Ted is charged with finding the idol and bringing it back to save the museum. Let's just say as an adventurer, Ted won't be filling the shoes of the late-Steve Irwin. During the expedition, he befriends the adorable, brown monkey and engages in a game of peek-a-boo. Enamored with his new friend, George sneaks aboard Ted's ocean liner and embarks on his own journey through the streets of New York City.
George's curiosity leads to all sorts of problems for Ted. He runs amok in Ted's apartment building and gets him kicked out onto the street. George also knocks over a dinosaur skeleton causing Ted to get the book again But, how can anyone stay mad at the little rascal? Soon, George teaches Ted the simple joys of the stars in the sky, fireflies, and flying high above the city via a bunch of balloons tied to the seat of your pants. What, you've never been?
The characters of "Curious George" live in a simple and innocent world filled with bright primary colors. Everybody has a friendly face and all your troubles work out in the end. Again, I give kudos to the filmmakers for picking hand-drawn animation which just fits better with the source material than CGI would have. I'm also glad Image Entertainment didn't try to make a live-action adaptation as they did with Dr. Seuss's "The Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Cat in the Hat", neither living up to the original books.
