Review of Curious George (2006) by Izzie O — 06 Dec 2008

Ted, The Man with the Yellow Hat: "You don't give a monkey a latte!".

Ted, The Man in Yellow (Will Ferrell, Anchorman) is a nerdy museum worker who subjects children to very boring lectures. When he discovers that the museum is losing money and he's about to be out of a job, he agrees to journey to Africa to find an ancient and gigantic idol. When he arrives, he does find the idol (which is not quite as large as he had hoped). He also finds a curious little monkey that follows him back to the big city. Now, Ted needs to save the museum, come clean about the idol, and figure out what to do with George. The film does change the essence of Curious George somewhat. In the original children's books, the character of Ted was only ever known as The Man in the Yellow Hat and never named. Here the focus is more on Ted, The Man in the Yellow Hat's problems retaining his job and even having a romance, rather than on the character of George and his innocent mischief as was always the case in the books. As long as one can see it as a film that requires nothing in the way of any mental faculties beyond that age, one can enjoy Curious George for exactly what it is. The monkey is an endearing little character and comes with a real child-like innocence. There are some quite impressive 3D scenes tracking George across rooftops and through the streets of New York. O'Callaghan's primary-colored adventure has a plush, almost-edible vibrancy that remains largely faithful to the aesthetic template set forth by creators H.A. and Margaret Rey.