George, o Curioso 2: Siga Aquele Macaco!

I am not the best person to be reviewing "Curious George 2", as my children have grown and I only watched it because I am a bit of a nut! It turns out I've seen and reviewed nearly all of Jerry Lewis' movies...except for voicework he did on this particular film. So, being a completist, I decided to get this DVD from Netflix...and it was pleasant family entertainment but certainly not something normal adults would want to watch on their own.

One important thing you should know is that this film isn't very much like the original H. A. Rey Curious George storybooks. While the characters look kind of the same, they are rubbery looking and act quite different. Instead of George constantly getting into trouble, this version finds George able to seemingly understand signs, what people say and more. He also chatters CONSTANTLY...something is annoying after a while and I think they way overdid this aspect of the movie.

As for the animation, I said it has a rubbery look and this isn't meant as any sort of complaint. The quality of the animation is a bit better than an average made for TV cartoon from the 2000s.

The story finds the Man in the Yellow Hat to be very compulsive about work...to the point where he ignores his girlfriend and, to a lesser extent, George. When she confronts him, the Man is a bit clueless and thinks she only wants him to pay attention to George. And, to make the monkey happy, he takes George to see a magic show...because an elephant friend of George's is in the act.

George can see that his elephant friend is unhappy and he somehow KNOWS to kidnap the friend and take the elephant to California to be with his family. How he knows this, well...don't question...it's just a kids movie. Somehow the Man in the Yellow Hat ends up tagging along and soon folks think he's kidnapped the elephant and he's now a wanted man. Is there any way for them to extricate themselves from this mess?

This is pleasant, undemanding direct to home video style programming. Nothing brilliant but enjoyable enough for any adults forced to watch it along with their kids.

As always, Curious George movies are the most family friendly movies and show out there. Great for all ages. Though this one is not as well rounded a storyline as the first, it is definitely full of FUNNY! Something the last one had less of. There are some super cheesy characters very melodramatic. But, the kids fall all over themselves laughing which is so much fun to watch! It's a sweet story and we watch it at least once a month in our home.

I have always loved the Curious George animated series as well as the first movie. But this is my favorite thing to come out of the franchise. Because it's just so heartwarming. This film always puts me in a good mood. I love the songs, the characters, the animation, which is similar to both the animated series as well as the first movie., George is as endearing as ever, overall, this is just an amazing film!

Frank Welker continues to voice George in this follow up, making the main character as lovable as ever. The few returning humans are different, but that is only to be expected. Frank also supplies the voice work for a duck and a cow. George makes friends with an elephant called Kayla and tries to reunite her with her family. Meanwhile Ted has an opportunity to become the new museum director. However things don't go according to plan. Can Ted decide where his priorities really lie? The story isn't as strong as the original, but it's still a cute journey to take. The soundtrack isn't as catchy, but it's pleasant enough. Also seeing the 2D format is very refreshing. 6/10

Considering my son specifically picks this movie over the first tells me it's a great film. There's a good chance that he's used to the voice of the man in the yellow hat as he's the voice actor from the TV show. He also loves trains so that could be other reason. For me the animation is very good and while I found the character voiced by Jamie Kennedy to be off putting I still dug the movie. The soundtrack is pretty good for a direct to video movie. I don't think I would've seen this in the theater but it was a great deal for $10. Based on the fact that the rest of the Curious George videos released have been TV show episode collections ... I have a hunch that there won't be another movie released for some time to come.