When I was a child, one of my proudest achievements was getting my very first
library card. Having a grownup hand me a card with my name on it -- my name!! --
that allowed me to borrow books that weren't mine, had me floating on cloud
nine. And when the card was in my hands, I promptly ran down to the kid's
section
of the library and grabbed two Curious George books. Since there were only seven different
titles at the time, i'd borrow them so often that I could recite each one from
memory. In fact, Curious George Goes To the Hospital helped assuage my
fears about the hospital during my first overnight stay. So when I heard that
they were making a feature film, I was (pardon the pun) curious. As an adult
who now has his own children, i'd have to say the cinematic version of Curious
George delivers on all levels. The animation, in my opinion, is top notch, the
voice actors do a great job and the music is fantastic.
When the film begins, we're treated to a quick look at George's exploits in Africa,
before heading to the city where "Ted" (aka
The Man In the Yellow Hat - more on that later) (Will Ferrell) is trying to boost
sagging attendance at the museum where he works. To do this, he tells the
museum's owner, Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke), that he's going to head
over to Africa to find the Lost Shrine Of Zagawa and bring the idol back to the
museum.
Unfortunately, the owner's son (David Cross) is intent on sabotaging
Ted's efforts so he'll be free to turn the museum into a parking garage. While
they're over in Africa, Ted befriends George, who ends up stowing away on Ted's boat
back to the city. Ted spends the rest of the movie dealing with the precocious
little monkey as he struggles to save the museum.
Like many Hollywood adaptations, the writers chose to deviate from the books
by giving the Man In the Yellow Hat a first name - Ted - and a love interest,
voiced by Drew Barrymore. They also show us exactly how the Man In the Yellow
Hat got his yellow hat (along with the rest of his yellow outfit). I'm not sure
why, but they also give "Ted" some of Ferrell's...well, "Ferrell"-isms. In the
books, the Man In the Yellow Hat is essentially the parental figure, while
George is, obviously, the curious child always needing to be rescued and
learning a lesson before the final page. Onscreen, "Ted" bumbles around town,
getting into almost as much trouble as George does. It's a minor quibble, and
since i'm a fan of Ferrell's, it didn't bother me in the least - it was more of
an observation, not a complaint.
Video: Curious George has a theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and
the picture looks fantastic. The animation is bright and colorful with an
intentionally slight softness to the picture. I didn't notice any grain, defects
or compression issues.
Audio: We're offered three separate Dolby Digital 5.1 audio
tracks - English, Spanish or French. The English track delivers
clear dialogue and sound effects, as well as Jack Johnson's songs in my center
speaker and fronts, while the back speakers didn't get that much of a workout. There's also an option to watch with English SDH (Subtitled for the deaf & hard-of-hearing), Spanish or French subtitles.
Also, if you decide to listen to
the end credits, do not adjust your stereo - the sound really does fades
from the center speaker.
Bonus Features: In addition to the music video for Jack Johnson's "Upside Down",
which you have the option to watch with subtitles to "sing-along", there are
fifteen deleted scenes that run
close to 17 minutes long. I was surprised to see that they weren't necessarily whole
"sequences" - they were just occasional slight cuts and they also featured work
by the original voice actors. Unfortunately, there are no behind-the-scenes
featurettes about the animation process. The closest we get is during A Very
Curious Car, which is a five minute featurette that has some creators talking about Curious George's
world and how they fit a Volkswagon into it. There's also "Drawn" to George,
a five minute clip instructing kids how to draw Curious George and Monkey
In Motion, a two minute clip showing Jeff Johnson as he draws a scene with
Curious George. That's it. Nothing else.
Universal rounds out the remainder of the bonus
features with a bunch of games aimed at their target audience. In Banana
Hunt: Help Hungry George Find Bananas, you have to count the number of bananas on
the screen
as a copyright for Dole fruit sits in the corner. Where's George? has you using your remote contol
to choose the location where you think George is hiding - not that they give you
any visual clues or anything. There's also a Virtual coloring book that
lets you choose from four different characters, the Man In the Yellow Hat,
Maggie, Professor Clovis or even George himself, and then select different
colors for each of their items. The final game, The Ever
Changing Colorful Chameleon, has you pick one of four different animals to see how the
chameleon reacts. Rounding out the bonus features is some DVD-ROM
content with more games and printable coloring sheets. Oh, there's also a one minute commercial for SheaHomes.
Conclusion: As i've mentioned in previous reviews, I am very
selective when it comes to cartoons when it comes to my children. However,
Curious George will find a place on my kid's shelf amongst the Looney Tunes,
Muppet Show and Disney DVDs. While I wish there was some discussion about the
animation process (it seems to be part 2D, part CGI), I do realize that i'm not
the target audience - my kids are - and they both enjoyed it. This is a very
entertaining, heartwarming 87 minute film and Universal delivers a bright,
vibrant picture and a great 5.1 audio track. Highly Recommended.
Buy: