By Afshan Farooqui, February 7, 2006

The little simian that has delighted loyal readers for over sixty years has finally come to the big screen thanks to Universal. Curious George (CURIO) is a curious little movie, colorful, good natured and on the simple side. It hearkens back to cartoons of old when the pictures were two dimensional, the plot thin, but everyone was big on charm. Perhaps that’s what gives this film a nostalgic feeling that should have parents thinking back to the time when they first came face to face with the little chimp. George should do relatively well in theaters, but DVD rentals are where his real kingdom will probably lie.

The 1940s character came from Margaret and H.A. Rey in a story about a monkey who is brought to a New York-like metropolis by his human friend, The Man in the Yellow Hat. In this movie, The Man in the Yellow Hat becomes Ted, a bumbling employee of a natural history museum. The film starts out with Ted giving a lecture attended by elementary school kids and their teacher Maggie, who is smitten with Ted.


Will Ferrell (WFERR) voices Ted, a character who may owe his continuous screen presence to the voice talent. Maggie, who comes to life by Drew Barrymore (DBARR), pops in and out of the hapless Ted’s life. Meanwhile, the museum that Ted is working must close because of low attendance and decreased interest. The museum’s owner is Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke) who wants to save the place but knows the money is running thin. His real son, Junior, voiced by David Cross wants to turn the place into a parking lot so father and son can make up for losses.

In a last ditch effort to save the place, Ted volunteers to go to Africa to locate a rare yet gigantic artifact that should definitely draw in the crowds. Outfitted in his ridiculous yellow outfit, Ted boards a ship in hopes of finding the lost idol. Once there, he finds the idol, but it turns out to be a miniature size version of what they thought it would be. Perplexed, Ted heads back to America, but not before encountering a playful monkey who follows him back to the New World.

After his return, Ted, who has to figure out what to tell his boss, finds the little monkey in his apartment. After a series of shenanigans and mishaps, Ted heads to the museum to share the bad news that the idol is not what was expected. Too late, Bloomsberry has already launched a massive citywide advertising campaign promoting the exhibit, even touting Ted as the adventurer who found the artifact.


Pushed into a corner, Ted comes clean to his boss, only to lose his job and be kicked out of his apartment after the pesky little monkey successfully harassed the landlord. Homeless and penniless, Ted must now rely on his little friend, whom he dubs George to help him find his way. And George is all play, content to go destroy everything in his path and watch as his master must deal with the aftermath. But he also opens up Ted’s world, a notable scene when the two fly over the city holding balloons and taking in the wonder of it all. That’s what little George gives to his beloved friend. No money, no job, no apartment, but you can still enjoy the wondrous things in life.

The cast of motley characters are very amusing. There’s a New York City cab driver who elicits a fair amount of laughs as well as the landlord and Ted’s upstairs neighbor, a female opera singer who comes out of the her bath to find George has destroyed her apartment.

The connection between Ted and George is strong and the film does a good job showing that. But the little primate has more up his sleeve than anyone could have guessed. He eventually helps his friend save the museum, get his job back and win over everyone he managed to tick off in the process.

But the film suffers from too much Ted and not enough George. Perhaps Ferrell wanted a bigger role. That would explain why Ted’s sheer stupidity at times furthers the plot. If the guy just stopped to think a minute, the film would definitely be shorter. All in all the film feels like the book came to life, with festive songs by Jack Johnson that do a good job of coloring the mood, but George surely could have used a bigger role in his own movie.

Children will definitely warm to this film despite the fact that it is not the sophisticated animation most tots are used to nowadays. But the film’s infectious charm makes the hour and some odd minutes go by pretty quickly.

Curious George opens in wide release on February 10.

A Curious George prize pack can be yours for the taking if you can answer the following question correctly: What book did George first make an appearance in? The first person who sends the correct answer to advice@hsx.com will win. Good Luck!!