I've always been a fan of the Curious George books and was in fact a little disappointed when I heard that they were making a movie out of it. Curious George in 3D animation just wasn't appealing to me. To my relief the characters are done in regular animation style for the most part, while the rest of the scenery and non-human elements are done in 3D.
So the story is rather simple. Ted, the man with the yellow hat, is trying to help Mr. Bloomsberry save his museum. Since attendance has drastically decreased, the museum doesn't have enough money to stay open. Bloomsberry's son, Junior, wants to turn the space into a parking lot, but Ted comes up with a brilliant idea. Why not find an attraction that would bring money into the museum! So Ted goes on an adventure to find the lost shrine of Zagawa (or something like that) and instead of finding a huge statue finds who else but George. Junior wants his parking lot, so he rips out a page of the map to the shrine in order to destroy the museum. Throughout the movie in fact Junior, the son of Bloomsberry, out of jealously tries to destroy that which his father created. So the story progresses with some hardships on Ted's part due to George (he loses his apartment and job) but everything eventually works out in the end.
It's a cute story, one of friendship and of perseverance even. Ted learns that he needs to be adventurous and to actually go out and do things. Because of George, Ted is able to learn things he never would have been able to if he just stayed in reading. I was glad that George doesn't speak, but the drawings convey a lot of emotion in the body language and facial expressions of the curious monkey. At times you forget that he's a monkey and think of him as a mischievous child. The voice acting was also pretty decent and I enjoyed the background music. I was also glad that the movie was not turned into a typical Disney cartoon where people burst into song and dance.
I didn't laugh out loud at this movie, and it's not really meant to be that funny. There are a couple parts where I chuckled, but I just enjoyed the story and the relationship between Ted and George. Even though George does get into a lot of trouble, he's still endearing and eventually he sets everything right. It's certainly a kid's movie, not something that people of all ages can enjoy unless you're a die hard Curious George fan.
I just wanted to make a note of the animation. There are parts where the characters are in 2D and the surrounding is in 3D. A lot of times this kind of juxtaposition doesn't really work with the two different types of renderings. If they had done everything in 2D or hand drawn everything it would have allowed for a better feeling of the book drawings, but as such, it was a little distracting. I'm not sure if there wasn't enough time to do the 2D drawings or what, but that's really the only major complaint I have.
I'm not going to say that everyone should go out and see the movie. The soundtrack is pretty decent and the storyline is decent, but it's for kids, as I stated previously. I would recommend seeing it once it comes out on DVD though. It's something completely different from the violence and sex of Hollywood movies these days. It's a refreshing movie to watch and I'm sure it will still captivate the minds of children around the world. And hey, it teaches kids about morals and consequences of their actions so it's a good learning tool at the same time. So if you have kids or if you're just in the mood for some wholesome movie, watch Curious George.
"Curious George" opens February 10, 2006 and is rated G. Adventure, Animation, Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by Matthew OCallaghan. Written by Ken Kaufman. Starring Alexander Gould, David Cross, Dick Van Dyke, Drew Barrymore, Eugene Levy, Shane Baumel, Will Ferrell.
