'Curious George' is a charmingly old-school barrel of fun
Like the beloved series of children's books that inspired it, Curious George uses crayon-box colors to paint the adventures of the inquisitive monkey who cruises from African jungle to urban jungle buoyed by an irresistible smile and the occasional balloon. For the most part, this delightful cartoon is hand-drawn, like the cheerful Margret and H.A. Rey books on which it is based. Likewise, it boasts the simple imagery and mischievous adventures that made the monkey a hero of every child who ever dreamed of dipping mitts into a paint can and decorating the living-room walls with handprints. Or who ever wanted to use the dinosaur skeleton at the museum as a personal jungle gym.
Like the beloved series of children's books that inspired it, Curious George uses crayon-box colors to paint the adventures of the inquisitive monkey who cruises from African jungle to urban jungle buoyed by an irresistible smile and the occasional balloon.
For the most part, this delightful cartoon is hand-drawn, like the cheerful Margret and H.A. Rey books on which it is based. Likewise, it boasts the simple imagery and mischievous adventures that made the monkey a hero of every child who ever dreamed of dipping mitts into a paint can and decorating the living-room walls with handprints. Or who ever wanted to use the dinosaur skeleton at the museum as a personal jungle gym.
If memory serves, in the books the Man in the Yellow Hat (voiced here by an unusually low-key Will Ferrell) was a zookeeper who traveled to Africa in search of new animals.
In this version, the man in the banana-colored, banana-crowned hat is named Ted and works at a museum of natural history, and he is in Africa hunting for artifacts more relevant to the young visitors than the dusty dioramas there.
George mistakes Ted's hat for his favorite fruit and tries to peel it. He grows fond of the Bananaman and stows away in the cargo hold. He arrives in the big city and finds an endless playground of taxis, zoos and fire escapes, where George indulges in monkey business and monkey pleasure.
What I most appreciated about the film directed by Matthew O'Callaghan is that it doesn't go for amped-up effects. No bells, whistles, or nudge-nudge, wink-winks to the adults in the audience. The lullabies by Jack Johnson on the soundtrack are so soothing that they make the Barney theme song sound like heavy metal.
I previewed the film with 200 kindergartners from the Maple Shade school district who watched it with hushed reverence. They rhythmically clapped whenever a Jackson ditty popped up.
When children are so into a movie that they don't make a peep or kick the back of your theater seat, it is a success.
Fans of clay animation (Wallace & Gromit) and computer-generated animation (The Incredibles) might sniff that Curious George is visually flat, and it's true that aesthetically speaking, this cartoon is strictly old-school. But every time I saw George I scribbled in my notebook: "This monkey shines."
Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com.
Curious George ** 1/2 (out of four stars)
Produced by Ron Howard, David Kirschner and Jon Shapiro, directed by Matthew O'Callaghan, written by Ken Kaufman, based on the books by Margret and H.A. Rey, music by Heitor Pereira, songs by Jack Johnson, distributed by Universal Pictures.
Running time: 1 hour, 17 mins.
The Man in the Yellow Hat. . . Will Ferrell
Maggie. . . Drew Barrymore
Clovis. . . Eugene Levy
Mr. Bloomsberry. . . Dick Van Dyke
Miss Plushbottom. . . Joan Plowright
Parent's guide: G (animated film, suitable for children 6 and younger)
Playing at: area theaters