I grew up reading Curious George books, and was well aware of him and the man in the yellow hat. Author H.A. Rey created an intriguing story about a monkey coming to the big city, and how George and the Man with the hat went through many exciting adventures. Director Matthew O'Callaghan has now brought forward a motion picture version of the lovable tale, this time taking the form of an animated feature. Instead of the 3-D formats that have been produced by DreamWorks most recently (Finding Nemo, Shreks, Cars) Curious George is of the 2-D version, showing off the hand-drawn animation that had made Disney so huge with its original pictures. The story itself was taken loosely from the original books, encapsulating some of the better features, but of course updating and improving on other aspects in your typical Hollywood fashion. The most important part, that of the curiosity of George the monkey, was kept though, and shown in the perfect light.

Lead character Ted (The Man in the Yellow Hat) is voiced by Will Ferrell in a role that he was basically born to play. Ted works in a museum as a scientist/tour guide, who entertains visitors with stories about the exhibits that are unfortunately boring to most people. Everyone but Miss Maggie Dunlop (Drew Barrymore) that is, who comes through on a weekly basis to show the students of her class the wonders of the world. It becomes quite obvious though that she isn't there to just see the exhibits, or for the kids to gain a new lesson. Amidst this sub-plot of romance, there is also a more central plot surrounding the museum and its future. With less and less people visiting the aging exhibits, the museum and its owner are pretty much broke, and at risk of closing very soon. In fact the son of the owner actually wants to close it, and sell it to a company that wants to put a parking lot in its place. Much the man of "profit" over everything else, his intensions are shown to the audience, but not to the other characters in the story.

Ted's bright idea to save the museum, is to go in search of an idol in Africa, with the belief that putting it on display will help raise the necessary money. This is where Ted is introduced to our main character George, who is one heck of a curious monkey. From the first time we get to see him on screen, the attempt is to show the audience just how curious he really tends to be. He is always getting into trouble, and that includes having too much fun with other animals in the jungle. When he sees this bright yellow hat that Ted is wearing, he wants it for himself, and thusly the two main characters come together. Though it wasn't quite what he was looking for in the jungle, it's going to help him a lot both in regards to his quest, and what he has been missing in his life that George has come along. This is where Will Ferrell is so good in this role, because he is able to bring his brand of humor, but it is toned down to appeal to an even wider audience.

Curious George is a simple story that is intended to cater to a very young audience. It isn't like a lot of cartoons out there with multi-leveled jokes intended to be funny on different levels for kids and adults, but rather it is presented in a straight-forward fashion. In my opinion that really works for this movie, because it lets George be very innocent in his approach to brand new things, and lets him be extremely cute when coming across new types of mischief. This kept the story very light-hearted, and coupled with an exemplary soundtrack entirely constructed by Jack Johnson, the film set a beautiful tone for its duration. The plot was a simple one, for Ted to save the museum in some manner, with George just being an added device for humor and interest. This worked perfectly, and led to a high level of enjoyment by me. Curious George was a nicely created piece of animation, thriving off of its innocence and "cute" humor that made it a winner in my book. This is the perfect movie for kids, and I as an adult also came away liking it very much.










Recommended:
Yes