Customer Reviews

Curious George (Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(121)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

As a child, what I loved best about Curious George was his absolute inability to resist temptation, especially if fun was involved. His curiousity got him into all sorts of trouble and I got a vicarious thrill out of watching him get out of trouble and have everything turn out all right, but not without a lot of action and suspense and humor first.

What kid can't relate to the constant struggle between following the rules and testing the boundaries.?

Luckily, this movie stays true to the spirit of the classic books and it features a stellar cast, including Drew Barrymare and Will Ferrell. They do fine in their roles.

DO keep in mind that this movie is NOT designed to entertain adults (as Shrek did) There aren't the clever "in" jokes and the animation is a bit strange at times. Also, there are updates such as cell phones (not around when Curious George was created).

But the spirit of the series remains intact. At the theatre where I saw the film, the younger members of the audience were laughing wildly. The older ones weren't nearly as thrilled. It really is aimed at a younger age group.

With those aspects in mind, it'd be the perfect family film for those with young children.

Curious George is a delightful book and a delightful movie. That the two don't match up very well is a testament to changing times I think, and not because the creators of the movie didn't care about preserving the original. But before I get into that I will review the movie as it stands on its own.

The "man with the yellow hat" (nicely voiced by Will Farrel) is a museum docent who cares passionately about his work and wants to communicate his love of history and the natural world to a disinterested city. It seems that the museum is failing financially, and destined to soon become a parking lot unless he and the owner can come up with a grand new attraction to bring in the money. So the man with the yellow hat buys the latest in adventure clothing and sets out to Africa on a mission to find a gigantic idol for their exhibit. He finds George instead (a very good little monkey, but extremely curious). George stows away on the ship headed back to America, and there he creates a lot of mischief and fun. The man with the yellow hat is at a loss about what to do with his new little friend, but soon learns to appreciate the little monkey and learns from his insatiable curiosity to stop worrying and enjoying life more.

We are Curious George fans (my household includes a 4 and 7-year old to whom I have read these books many times before bed). I thought the movie was sweet and innocent, done in a simpler animation style with soft washes of bright color that stayed fairly true to the feeling of the illustrations from the books. This entranced my four year old: the seven year old was bored, as I might have expected. After all, the books were meant more for the pre-K ages.

Speaking of innocence, you might have guessed from my summary that the movie took HUGE liberties with the plot. In its defense, imagine movie audiences of today reacting to some guy showing up in Africa, dropping a monkey into a sack and hauling him off to America to live in his house largely unsupervised. Then imagine that the monkey accidentally dials the Fire Department, which shows up and arrests him for false alarm, taking him to a prison infested with rats. When the books were written what, 50 years ago? this may have seemed more plausible. Not today, by a long shot! So you see how there had to be a major rewrite for this to work as a movie in 2006.

I thought this was a fun film to see with your 2-5 year old child, but perhaps too simple for older kids unless they are rabid Curious George fans to begin with. We will probably rent or buy the DVD when it becomes available later this year.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

I thought the movie was a breath of fresh air in an era of overhyped computer-animated "cartoons" full of in-jokes and sarcasm. This was a real cartoon- gently animated, slowly paced, and written for kids. No snarky sarcasm, no annoying talking animals, no ridiculous violence, just a sweet tale told so that it could be enjoyed by all ages. There is nothing to scare a very young child, and children will not come away with rude comments that they learned from it. It is what movies for kids should have always been.

The plot is slightly pointless, but the plot really isn't the point anyway. The real point is how cute George is, and how nice it is to watch him being curious. The songs are sweet and not too loud or jarring. All of mine, from ages 2 up to 7, liked the movie, and it kept their attention without making them anxious. I wish I could give it six stars.

Our almost-four-year-old requested that we allow him to see this movie a while ago. Last night was the big event. It was perfectly wonderful -- I can't imagine how the film could be improved. I missed a few moments because I spent some time watching our little boy giggle and smile throughout the movie. George is darling -- and if you've ever parented an especially busy "curious" toddler, this movie will pull at your heartstrings and remind you of the divine beauty in children. I especially enjoyed the use of "lighting effects" in the animation design -- they were appropriate and beautiful. The music was wonderful. Will Farrel was really good as the voice of the Man in the Yellow Hat. For me, Dick Van Dyke's warm, rich voice conjures childhoods past (with Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). George was so adorable! We came home from the movie full of happiness, and also full of plans to appreciate and love our children more. Bravo!

This is a great movie for the whole family. Simple clean animation and CGI translate the classic story book (taking some liberties) to a format to suit a new generation, with a fantastic soundtrack by Jack Johnson and two popular stars in Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore. One would have thought that Ferrell would have been better off as the monkey, but instead he gets to play the second banana as Ted, the Man in the Yellow Hat. Barrymore plays his love interest, but there ain't much to see in that department.

Ted works at a museum which is about to close its doors due to lack of public interest. The owner's son is all for selling it to build a parking garage, but Ted persuades Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke) to make a last effort by retrieving a huge idol from the Lost Shrine of Zagawa and displaying it at the museum.

Before he knows it, Ted is outfitted in a yellow suit and is off playing Indiana Jones with a compromised map. There he meets the adorable monkey of the tile, who falls in love with Ted's yellow hat and the game of peek-a-boo. Unfortunately the idol he recovers is slightly smaller than advertised, and he goes home to face the music.

Unfortunately, Mr. Bloomsberry has started the advertising campaign for the giant idol, and Ted finds himself at a loss for words and of course an idol. To compound matters, George has managed to track him across the ocean, and a swinging time follows, as the little monkey can't help but get into trouble.

Lots of laughs and of course a happy ending is a given, but it's a fun ride all the same. A cute and cuddly movie for everyone.


Amanda Richards, August 12, 2006

The animated version of `Curious George' is surprisingly engaging and entertaining, drawn with warm, hand-drawn pictures that capture the spirit of the original books. The weakness of the script cannot be denied, but watching the mischievous monkey (or chimpanzee precisely) is pleasant and amusing experience.

The story is basically about the buddy-buddy relations between a bumbling curator named Ted (Will Ferrell), and the much-beloved curious monkey. Though the film's beginning chapters about Ted's adventure in the jangle to search for the lost artifact is very unconvincing, the story really gets underway when we see the monkey following him to the big city where some of the famous episodes (about the balloons for instance) are re-created in a modified form.

But the real asset of the film is its colorful images drawn in traditional 2-D style. The delightful combination of shades and primary colors is always effective with the rich facial expressions of the monkey, which is really fun to see. The laid-back soundtrack from Jack Johnson is additional merit of the film.

Drew Barrymore appears, providing the voice of Maggie, love interest for Ted, but her role is not explored to the full. You can also hear the voices from Dick Van Dyke, Eugene Levy, David Cross and Joan Plowright, but it is veteran Frank `Voice God' Welker who brings the character of George into life.

I heard several complaints about this `Curious George' - one British reviewer said it is `perfunctory' and one eminent critic from America said it is enjoyed only by children. I am a 40-year-old adult who consider myself as a huge fan of animations, and I was thoroughly amused, finding that the film is much better than what those remarks suggest. Enjoy it.

I have two small children, so we read A LOT of Curious George in this house. We have the DVD of the new PBS Kids CG show, and that is on heavy rotation here too. We couldn't wait for this movie to finally come out on DVD. It's cute, and my kids enjoyed it. While the books are more about George and his shenanigans, the movie is more about "the man with the yellow hat" and his troubles. Much of the movie is spent either chasing or lamenting over an African idol (another great thing for your preschool children to be introduced to...not). Be ready to answer questions such as "Mommy, what's an idol?"... Also, the dysfunctional relationship between the father and son was a little icky and weird to watch. It was hard for my children to watch George desperately clinging to and reaching out for the MWTYH, and him saying "just take him away", they really didn't understand how the man could do that, and what other explanation could I offer them than to say that the MWTYH had become completely self-absorbed with no regard for anyone else? (I don't remember that happening in any of the books.)

This was a worthwhile rental but I sure wish they had stuck to the books. Oh well, that's Hollywood! :)

Our toddler is a Curious George (CG) fan. He was so excited to see George at the start of the movie but lost interest as the movie progressed (there are quite a few scenes where CG takes a backseat to TMWYH and his storyline). We finished the movie later and we were glad our son didn't watch the rest - the part where TMWYH gives CG to animal control is so sad! See the other reviews regarding upset children. I'm sure an older child could understand, but as for us, we won't be watching with our younger son. I only wish we had rented instead of purchased.

My 3 year old son loves the tv show, Curious George. We were excited to watch the movie, but before we got half-way through, he was in tears. I just fast-forwarded to the end where TMWTYH was holding George.

Here's the thing. In the show, TMWTYH is warm, generous, smart, has boundless patience, perfect parenting responses and a child-like wonder. The basic cool dad for a 3 year old (monkey), with some eccentricities (like the yellow).

In the movie, TMWTYH is a bumbling, self-absorbed loser with low self-esteem. The yellow outfit was a humiliation forced upon him. The museum is awful and the search for the African idol just underscores the man's lack of character. The first part of the movie, George is constantly seeking affection from TMWTYH. George is ignored or shoo-ed away and lands himself in some scary situations where he is unloved and alone. This is what made my 3 year old cry. He felt so badly for George. Even at night, I heard him call out "George-y, George-y."

I'm very happy that the creators of the show chose to rethink the characters in a way that shows an understanding of young children's minds.

I really enjoyed this lighthearted, family-oriented film. The story doesn't really hold up much if you really think about it, but who cares! This movie made me feel good and relaxed and that's what matters!

George, the monkey, is absolutely adorable. Will Ferrel, Drew Barrymore and cast are great as well. But my favorite part of the movie, besides George, is the music by Jack Johnson. He's definitely my new favorite chill-out artist! The soundtrack adds yet another entertaining dimension to this already very entertaining movie.

Check it out. Check out the soundtrack as well and let me know how you like it.