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Those who've grown up reading Margret and H. A. Rey's enduring books will be more delighted than disappointed in the feature film debut of the good little monkey who is always curious. The playful George (voiced by Frank "Fred" Welker of Scooby-Doo fame) befriends Ted, an enthusiastic museum guide who has come to Africa in search of an "amazing new exhibit" to save the failing Bloomsberry Museum. Too bad the mythical, long-lost idol of Zagawa for which he is searching turns out to be a paperweight-sized trinket. Ted's life is further complicated by George, who has stowed away on Ted's ship (dubbed the H. A. Rey -- a nice touch). The simian in the city innocently runs riot. In two sequences drawn from the books, he and Ted are carried aloft by a bunch of balloons, and George impulsively paints an opera diva's apartment with a jungle motif. After monkeying around with The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat, the third time's the charm for producer Ron Howard in bringing to the screen a book beloved by generations of readers. The mostly hand-drawn animation is faithful in spirit to the books' illustrations (the end credits replicate scenes from George's literary misadventures). The dialogue is pretty much geared to its target audience, without the self-consciously audience-broadening pop-culture references that glut most of today's animated films. The usually untamed Will Ferrell reins it in as Ted, who becomes the gaudily dressed Man in the Yellow Hat after an ill-informed shopping spree. Drew Barrymore is Wedding Singer-sweet as the elementary school teacher who likes the clueless Ted. Dick Van Dyke is the comical geezer Mr. Bloomsberry, and David Cross is hilariously nasty as his greedy son, who wants to turn the museum into a parking lot. The film avoids a pre-packaged soundtrack of ill-placed pop hits for likable original songs by Jack Johnson. Children, as ever, will go bananas for the adorable and mischievous George, whose innocent curiosity always gets him (and Ted) into trouble. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

The naughty little monkey from Margret Rey and H.A. Rey's beloved children's stories makes the leap to the big screen in this animated adaptation. Ted (voice of Will Ferrell) is an explorer with a large yellow hat who is good friends with Bloomsberry (voice of Dick Van Dyke), who runs a natural history museum. Bloomsberry's greedy son, Bloomsberry Junior (voice of David Cross), wants to tear down his dad's museum and put a parking ramp in its place, but the elder Bloomsberry is convinced that a spectacular new exhibit could save the museum from the wrecking ball. Ted heads to Africa on an expedition to find some special artifacts that will keep his friend in business, but while he's there he befriends a playful monkey he calls George (voice of Frank Welker). While George is friendly, he has a taste for mischief and seems to always get Ted in hot water; Ted thinks he's seen the last of his simian friend when his ship heads back to America, until he discovers that George managed to hide aboard the boat before it set sail. Ted's search for a eye-catching exhibit proved to be a failure, and Ted and his good friend Maggie (voice of Drew Barrymore), a schoolteacher who's sweet on him, struggle to find of a way to save Bloomsberry's museum. But time becomes precious for Ted when George has an entire new city to explore. Curious George features a handful of original songs composed for the film by surfer-turned-singer/songwriter Jack Johnson. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 025192616020
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Pan & Scan
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 24,055

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