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Review:
 Sometimes
the classics shouldn't be made into films. H. A. and Margret Rey's
classic picture book about a inquisitive and intelligent little
chimp wasn't really movie material. There wasn't much of a story,
and what there was, while really good, wasn't enough for more than
maybe a fifteen minute cartoon. In fact, since Rey died in the
1970s, there've been quite a few. But a full length feature?
They've been trying to figure that one out for years. The film
version was supposed to come out about ten or fifteen years ago
but since they couldn't find a decent story, they decided to
license the hell out of it anyway, and CG stuff has been on toy
store shelves for, like, EVER.
So, now that they finally got the thing made, how is it? Well…It's
a kiddy film. Remember that doesn't mean bad. Not like some of the
live action Dr. Seus adaptations, that's for sure.
So as it's for little children we can get away with a few things,
like giving Ted, the Man in the Yellow Hat(Will Ferrell), a cell
phone even though he takes a freighter to Africa. No problem
there, little children don't remember a time when there weren't
any.
Ted, the nerdy host of the local natural history museum, is,
unlike the books, a genial dunce. Full of useless information, he
doesn't know that the cute Maggie(Drew Barrymore) is secretly in
love with him. But there is trouble brewing. Ted's boss is Mr.
Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke), a frustrated explorer, who's
nerdy-yet-evil son(David Cross) is plotting to close the museum
and put up a parking lot in it's place. So our hero has to head
down to Africa to find the lost statue of something'r'other and
bring it back to the States.
Instead of the statue, he finds little George. Now of course the
plot doesn't make all that much sense, but so what? This actually
captures the feel of the book, where a pseudo-toddler gets away
with just about everything and everybody loves him for it. Fine.
Plus screenwriter Ken Kaufman puts enough subdue wisecracks in it
to keep the grownups from being bored to tears.
The animation itself is brilliant. Apparently, Universal hired
most of the crew Disney laid off when it went completely CGI, so
we've got some of the best people in the business drawing their
little hearts out. If you have toddlers and just a bit older, then
you should see this once on the big screen before you see it eight
hundred times on the video.
Eric Lurio
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