Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Curious George Blu-ray Movie Review

Monkey see, monkey Blu.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 10, 2015

Considering that Curious George -- the charming little "learn about life through mild misadventure" monkey from Creators Hans Augusto and Margaret Rey -- is one of the most popular children's characters in the world, one can only wonder why it took so long, many decades after his debut, for Hollywood to see fit to craft a feature-length film. Fortunately, the film was worth the wait. The simply and aptly titled Curious George follows story basics -- the monkey is transplanted to the big city, befriends a man in yellow, and embarks on a series of adventures -- and explores a little bit beyond in a tale that follows basic children's movie structure as if it were a science. Yet it's a welcoming, charming, and adorable little movie that will dazzle young ones and impress adults with its quality construction, breezy sense of adventure, and wide open heart.

Most curious.

Ted (voiced by Will Ferrell) works tours at a museum that's only staying afloat because a teacher (voiced by Drew Barrymore) who is infatuated with him brings her class to the museum every week, like clockwork. Unfortunately, that's no longer enough. Ted's boss and museum owner Mr. Bloomsberry (voiced by Dick Van Dyke) is on the verge of selling to his son Junior (voiced by David Cross) who intends to demolish the building and replace it with a parking garage. A flustered Ted mentions that if the museum can secure a priceless artifact -- a forty-foot-tall statue hiding in Africa, to be exact -- its fortunes just might turn around. Ted is reluctantly volunteered to lead the expedition. He finds the statue, but it's merely inches tall, not dozens of feet high. He dejectedly returns home but is followed by a curious little monkey whom he briefly befriended on the journey. The two quickly become inseparable friends. He names the monkey "George" (voiced by Frank Welker). George becomes a hit with most everyone around him. But the museum's financial problems remain. Can Ted and George find a solution before Junior calls in the wrecking ball?

Curious George opens as it should, with an accessible, friendly, and entertainingly explorative micro-adventure montage in which George quickly learns about the world around him -- still in Africa -- and finds not only the fun and value in both curiosity and discovery but in friendship and happiness. He's depicted in a very relatable, almost human way, presented with a childlike view of the world. This depiction is not meant simply as a character introduction but rather an opening window into Gorge's world and the core structure on which the series, and the film, is based. The movie, and George (and the audience, for that matter) get a lot of mileage out of the simplest little adventures, the easiest, breeziest, most identifiable bits of learning and fun with only brief and mild peril added not so much for the kids but rather for the sake of giving the movie a basic underlying weight to hold up the otherwise light, airy, fun-filled comic bits. The drama stems more from core story details than it does placing the characters in jeopardy; the only truly "scary" bit comes when George nearly plunges to his death but is saved by a suddenly, and necessarily, heroic Ted. Indeed, the film maneuvers through simple emotional ups and downs but, of course, concludes on a positive note and, while everything is right in Ted and George's world at the end, the movie makes sure to subtly say that it's the newfound friendship that makes the story end happily ever after, not some big red statue settled onto a museum floor.

The film not only captures the spirit of the book in its tone but also in its appearance. While the film does give a name to the famous "Man with The Yellow Hat" -- if only because referring to him as such wouldn't necessarily work in film format -- it otherwise seems to stay rather true to Curious George basics. The caricatures are spot-on, with both George and the newly-named Ted readily identifiable in form and figure and brought to marvelously rich life thanks to Will Ferrell's easy, humorous, and welcoming voicing of the main human protagonist and Frank Welker's vocalizations for George which do more than simply regurgitate sound but instead bring the character to dazzling life with little sound details that convey as much, if not more, emotion than any string of words. The surrounding animation is likewise simple and effective, soft and inviting, a perfect frame for both the action and the gentler themes of companionship that go with it. While the larger story isn't all that important -- it's simply a vehicle by which the film moves through its more grounded, simple ideas on bonding, trust, fun, adventure, and learning about and appreciating the world -- it satisfies basic requirements and proves to be a fun little roller coaster ride that passes through all of the film's various ups and downs on the way to its expectedly warm and cuddly conclusion.

Curious George Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Curious George arrives on Blu-ray with a cheery and pleasant 1080p, 1.85:1-framed image. The picture is marred only by a few errantly jagged lines and semi-regular, but not obtrusive, banding. Otherwise, it's rich and satisfying, with good, clean details and bold, though simple, colors. Image definition is sharp and precise, with generally clean, smooth lines and about as much visible definition as the source has to offer. Whether cityscapes, dense jungle, museum interiors, clothes, or other bits, the image offers an accurate, nicely textured and crisp collection of images throughout. Colors are abundant and robust, certainly lacking much nuance but showing off vivid, cheery hues in nearly every scene. This is a very attractive and enjoyable Blu-ray presentation from Universal.

Curious George Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Curious George features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It offers a nicely aggressive but balanced musical presentation, featuring healthy front end space, enveloping surround support, a nicely light but critical low end and fine instrumental and vocal clarity. The track springs to life with a good bit of welcoming, mood-defining environmental support pieces. City traffic din, rolling thunder, falling rain, and other bits wrap the listener up in the sonic details of the film's world. A number of heavier effects, most of which appear in isolation, are likewise well defined. A lion's deep roar, a ship's bellowing horn, slamming doors, collapsing dinosaur fossils, and other heavier bits enjoy a suitably deep sensation and accuracy to boot. Dialogue is rich and smooth with constant center delivery, save for where it naturally reverberates around the stage in a couple of key moments. On the whole, this is a very strong and highly enjoyable listen from Universal.

Curious George Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Curious George contains several extras, notably a rather large collection of deleted scenes. No "top menu" is included. All special features and other options must be accessed in-film via the "pop-up" menu. No DVD or digital copies are included.

• Music Video with Sing-Along (480i): "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson. Available as both a standard music video (3:16) and as a sing-along (3:11).
• Deleted Scenes (480i): Ted's Time Machine (0:42), Edu Throws Suitcase (0:21), The Pet Shop (1:14), The End Tag (0:50), Extended Outfitter's Store (2:28), The Inflatable Rhino (0:41), The Original Lobby (1:06), Sparky Grooms Ted (0:39), The Hotel Montage (1:51), Ted's Nightmare (1:05), The Ballon Flight Assault (0:53), Sparky Blows Up (0:33), Ted Crashes the Truck (0:35), Ted Runs Over Sparky (0:53), and The Parade (0:59).
• "Drawn" to George (480i, 5:08): Jeff Johnson and a narrator show viewers how to draw George.
• Monkey Around with Words (480i, 4:45): Some scenes that have fun with words like "hat" and "car" while putting them into basic sentences.
• A Very Curious Car (480i, 4:45): The filmmakers discuss creating a world of soft, safe, and simple exploration and art in the film. Also examined is a collaboration with Volkswagen on the film's car design.
• Monkey in Motion (480i, 1:46): Jeff Johnson and a narrator demonstrate how to make George appear in motion by flipping through several different, but similar, drawings.

Curious George Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Curious George knows what it needs to be and executes to the letter. It's simple entertainment, yes, but that's all that's required of it. It's cute, cuddly, accessible, fun, entertaining, and mildly meaningful. It gets plenty of mileage out of life's simplest pleasures, its most zaniest adventures, and it most hideous clothes alike. Featuring classic characters brought to life by good voice acting and deposited into a plot that serves as a vehicle for conveying the film's deeper, yet simpler, messages, it's a good all-around performer that the whole family can enjoy. Universal's Blu-ray release of Curious George features good video, top-quality audio, and a fair collection of extra content. Recommended.