Curious George

Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment have, in the past, co-conspired to produce two truly offensive cinematic travesties of iconic children's books: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Cat and the Hat". With "Curious George" I am delighted and relieved to say that in this instance tragedies do not come in threes. Simple, charming, attractively animated (by hand, with some 3D effects which blend in well), appropriate for kids, with no Seinfeldian self- consciousness or Adam Sandler-style gross-out humor, this film is near perfect.

I say near perfect because of Will Ferrell's vocal performance as The Man in the Yellow Hat (now named Ted) is a misfire. If he talked about 35% as much as he does in the film he would be just right. He's still better than in the god-awful "Bewitched" pseudo-remake. But that's a small price to pay for one of the few genuinely appropriate-for-children children's movies since the Jim Henson-era Muppet movies.

"George" succeeds where every post-Lilo and Stitch, non-Pixar Disney film has failed. Yet the finger-licking' bad, sub-Dreamworks "Chicken Little" made more money.

I was just chilling down, was looking to watch some movie with less or no expectations which made me turn down to this one. It turned out to be an above average movie. If you like animated stuff, don't miss this. Right after 20 minutes of the movie, I started becoming curious what's next in the movie. The climax amazed me. Should, should have run a little longer. The direction was superb. All boxes and characters ticked right from the start. A completely satisfying end to the movie.

I took my two-year-old son to see this movie, his first in a theater, and we both had a great time. Curious George is a light-hearted, sweet movie that portrays our little monkey's mayhem without resorting to manic pacing, blaring music or wise-cracking.

In fact, the makers deliberately put very little into the movie that is aimed over the children's head and at the parents. So, unlike a Shrek or a Toy Story movie, there was never an instance of a joke that mommy and daddy laugh at and the kids miss. All the jokes are shared.

So, see this movie with a small one. It probably isn't 'slick' enough for anyone over 8. People without small children can take a pass. The most hard core Curious George fans can rent the DVD.

Here I am, taking my 2 year old to a movie expecting to be bored stiff. Much to my surprise, my 8 year old also enjoyed it, and my 2 year old sat enraptured and watched the entire movie without a peep. And then talked non-stop about it for the next couple days. That is enough for a positive rating, but I also found myself enjoying this cute movie. Usually for that to happen the movie makers have to put in scenes just for the parents that the kids don't get at all, not here, I found myself chuckling at the same things my daughter did. Just simple innocent monkey business and a bumbling Will Ferrel, it needs no more. I even thought the additions by Jack Lullaby Johnson added to the movie, not just to put the parents asleep. We will definitely end up with this movie on our shelves for the kids, and even the parents can watch it one or 2 more times without going out of our minds with the typical substitute stupid for cute fare that usually passes for children movies.

My eight-year-old son said to me on the way out "Mom, that was the best movie I've ever seen".

Myself? I had my jaw dropped, tears in my eyes, and my spirits were soaring.

Finally - a movie you can take your kids to see with no "adult humor" that may or may not fly over your kids' heads. No farting or potty humor. A TRUE children's movie that does beautiful justice to the beloved books.

Outstanding traditional animation. Loved all the primary colors! Great soundtrack - just went out and bought it today. I am taking my kids to see this one in the theater again (a first for me), and we can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

Thanks Ron Howard - you have a winner here.