Curious George (DVD)

Good old Curious George. He's got a basic message, a winning smile, and the ability to read people like a monkey twice his age. For the kids George is a can't miss. For the adults? Well, you have kids so hopefully you are the patient sort.

When I was a kid I had the Curious George books, heck I think I even owned the monkey stuffed animal. The idea of promoting curiosity dovetailed nicely with the happy and kid friendly monkey. After I grew out of George, say around age six or so, the whole thing seemed kind of lame but it's safe to say that this version of George still remains a good bedtime story.

I didn't review the film in the theater so a quick plot rundown and then I'll get to the DVD features. Ted (Will Ferrell) works at a museum and heads out on an expedition to find a giant statue intended to save the museum from financial ruin. On his journey he of course runs across Curious George himself and the two cross paths and frolic along for the rest of the movie. Drew Barrymore has a bit of voice work as a school teacher who is Ted's romantic lead but nothing is particularly noteworthy about the appearance. It probably won't come as a shocker that this G rated animation has a happy ending. One other quick note, the film is done in a more simplistic animation style that takes you back to the mid eighties when things were really rocking along for animators. I found it to be a nice visual affect.

There is only one glaring weakness on the features side of Curious George. The offensive one of the lot is one called "A Very Curious Car," it's pretty much a blatant Volkswagen ad aimed at your children. That strikes me as absurd; you can't wait a few years VW? Luckily the rest of the features are better and more interactive too.

"Drawn to George" shows the kiddies how to draw George and "Monkey Around with Words" teaches some very basic vocabulary. "Monkey in Motion" allows the children a little look inside how animation works and you've got a Jack Johnson (who wrote every song in the movie) video thrown in too. The video has a sing along, and the disc also has a wide array of very basic games (listed under "games"). Let me repeat basic there, these aren't hours worth of games or anything unless your kid is still drooling a lot. Sorry, you're not getting a video game out of this disc too. Curious George also has 15 deleted scenes but does not have a director's commentary. So, for you die hards out there that wanted to learn about his process you'll just have to email him.

The verdict on Curious George is as simple and straightforward as the movie itself. If you've got kids five or under it would be an ideal disc to own, it's a fun and vibrant movie with plenty of extras. If you've got youngsters older than that they are most likely going to tune this basic fare right out so you shouldn't waste your money. For those without kids I can't imagine a scenario in which you'd be curious enough to rent or buy this one unless you're a huge animated monkey fan.