Mr. Peabody and Sherman” Finally Hits the Big Screen
By Skip Sheffield
“The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” aired from 1959-1964 and
continues to this day in television re-runs. The crudely-animated show featured
corny puns, satire and self-referential humor aimed more at adults than
children.
“Peabody’s
Improbable History” was a regular segment of the show. In it a dog named Mr.
Peabody and his adopted human boy Sherman
would journey back to key moments in a time-travelling device known as the WABAC
(pronounced “Way-Back”) Machine.
Now “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” is a 3-D animated feature
movie. It is bigger, longer but not necessarily better than the more sarcastic black-and-white
original.
Still, “Mr. Peabody” is a lot of nostalgic fun for Baby Boom
era adults. I imagine the 3-D special effects have been added to appeal to a
younger generation. It was a 12-year effort for director Ron Minkoff (“The Lion
King”) to make “Mr. Peabody” a reality.
Tiffany Ward, daughter of “Rocky & Bullwinkle” creator
Jay Ward, served as executive director and creative consultant for the script,
based on her late father’s characters and expanded by screenwriter Craig
Wright.
An all-star cast of voices was recruited, topped by Ty
Burrell as Mr. Peabody, the world’s smartest dog, and Max Charles as Sherman,
his adoptive human son.
The setup comes when Sherman
gets in a conflict with snobby Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter) at school and Mr.
Sherman tries to mediate with her parents (Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann)
when social worker Mrs. Grunion (Allison Jenney) threatens to remove Sherman
from Mr. Peabody’s custody.
Sherman has been forbidden
from using the WBAC machine without Mr. Peabody, so of course Sherman does so in an effort to impress
Penny.
Sherman and Penny travel to ancient Egypt, revolution-era France
and ancient Troy,
where they experience misadventures with historic characters.
The relationship between Mr. Peabody has been expanded and
deepened for the movie. This adds sentimentality that was not in the original,
but in aiming the movie at a family market it is smart to emphasize family
values.
"The Wind Rises" a Class Act
For a sheer class act, you won’t go wrong with “The Wind
Rises,” which is billed as the last animated film by Japanese writer-director
master Hayao Miyazaki.
Jiro (voice of Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a Japanese boy who
aspires to be a pilot, but because of poor eyesight he settles on a career of
aircraft design instead. Jiro joins the aircraft company that designed the
famed Japanese Zero in 1927. The chief designer, Italian Caproni (Stanley
Tucci), becomes Jiro’s mentor and inspiration.
The story also illustrates the Great Kanto Earthquake of
1923, the Great Depression, a major tuberculosis epidemic and Japan’s entry
into World War II. A romantic side plot has Jiro falling in love with Nahoko
(voice of Emily Blunt).
Like his earlier works "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle," “The Wind Rises” is majestic,
lyrical and beautiful.
More West Bank Violence in “Bethlehem”
Hard on the heels of “Omar” comes the similarly-themed “Bethlehem,” co-written by Israeli director Yuval Adler and
Arab journalist Ali Waked, who spent years on the West
Bank.
Shadi Mar’i plays Sanfur, the 17-year-old younger brother of
Abu Ibrahim (Tarik Kopty), a notorious Palestinian guerrilla fighter. Like
“Omar” there is an Israeli Shin Bet (secret police) officer, Razi (Tsahi
Halewi) who is pressuring Sanfur to give up terrorist secrets. Unlike “Omar”
there is no romantic angle.
“Bethlehem”
is a grim, gripping thriller set in one of the most violent, dangerous places
on earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment