Image courtesy of www.impawards.com
Director :
Matthew O’Callaghan
Cast :
Will Ferrell……….The Man in the Yellow Hat
Drew Barrymore……….Maggie
With all of the advances of animation made possible with computer graphics, it’s something to behold at how realistic animated films have become. From the facial expression in The Incredibles to the movement of Alex’s whiskers in Madagascar, the last several years have been major boons in just how good animation can look. It has driven Disney mainly to release direct to video films as the sort of two-dimensional animated film has become a lost art. A flat rendition of a human face looks woefully inadequate when a studio like Pixar can design a much more realistic version of it. Even stop-gap animation has surged ahead with the recent Wallace & Gromit and Corpse Bride recently winning Oscar nominations over better looking animated films like Valiant.
It’s curious then that a film that looks no where near as polished or as lifelike would be a genuinely fun surprise in Curious George. The film, inspired by the children’s book series, follows the simian title character of the film and his human master Ted (Will Ferrell), better known as The Man in the Yellow Hat. Ted, on an expedition to Africa, befriends the young monkey and ends up taking him back to New York City. George, a curious animal, finds himself getting into all sorts of whacky shenanigans and crazed gags that leave The Man in the Yellow Hat scrambling to save George from himself. All the while he has to save his museum from being closed down while trying to win the advances of Maggie (Drew Barrymore).
What makes Curious George so unique is that it takes advantage of the flat environment to its fullest. This isn’t the greatest looking animated film, nor does it try to be. While some key moments aren’t animated strongly, and some just seem haphazard, it gives George and his owner a certain freshness about them that seems lacking in Valiant, for example. George doesn’t look like a real monkey, nor should he, and that’s part of his charm. He’s cute and true to the way he was originally drawn in the children’s books, not updated for a modern look. His natural curiosity with the world around him and the wonder in which his Eddie Haskell like mind works is fascinating to behold as there’s a lot of fun and good laughs to come out of it all.
It’s also helped by the voice talents of Ferrell. Coming off a disappointing 2005, Ferrell’s first starring vehicle of 2006 is a chance for him to be funny without having to be on screen. The same sort of exasperation in his voice that would grow tiresome repeatedly if combined with over the top facial movements seems a bit subdued through the animation; the farcical nature of the film allows for him to be over the top and the animation allows it to be underplayed to the point where it blends together well.
What helps Curious George is that there isn’t any sort of reliance on the double entendres and adult-intended jokes that have populated other animated films. This is a movie that is intended for children and their parents without the sort of potential off-color jokes that pepper the animated genre; it makes it much more refreshing to watch. George is a funky monkey and his owner is a unique fellow but there isn’t anything dirty or even potentially close to it in the film; sometimes a children’s film should be aimed directly at children instead of them and their parents, and this is a case where it exceeds on both levels.
