Given the overblown, big-screen hashes made of such classic children's books as The Cat and the Hat and Stuart Little — kiddie movies that cater more to crass modern sensibilities than the spirit of the originals — it's a miracle Curious George didn't undergo the same page-to-screen ordeal. Not only is this utterly charming, beautifully animated (in old-fashioned 2-D!) adaptation faithful to the tone of the stories themselves, but the filmmakers have beautifully captured the look and feel of illustrator H.A. Rey's original artwork, while finding clever ways to incorporate bits of writer Margret Rey's original Curious George adventures into the story. Neatly skirting the potentially upsetting issue of illegal African animal importation, the curious and lonely little monkey arrives in the big city after following museum guide-turned-explorer Ray (voice of Will Ferrell) back from an African jungle expedition. Ray, resplendent in a banana-colored safari suit and hat, hoped to find the lost shrine of Zagawa and its legendary granite idol, a 40-foot, 20-ton monkey. The idol is the dream acquisition of museum owner Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke), and could prove to be the attraction his bankrupt museum desperately needs to avoid being sold by his greedy son (David Cross) to a parking-lot developer. In an age of the Internet and video games, few children are interested in a natural-history museum, and the only regular visitors are schoolteacher Maggie Dunlop (Drew Barrymore) — who has a crush on Ray — and her bored class. But instead of a gargantuan monolith, Drew finds only a 3-inch-high carving of a crouching, sour-faced ape, and returns home to find that his disappointed message to Mr. Bloomsberry has been misunderstood. Awaiting him is a mountain of hype befitting King Kong's arrival, and the entire city eagerly awaits its first glimpse of Ray's momentous discovery. Making matters worse, his new "pet," whom Ray names George and can't manage to shake, gets him evicted by wreaking havoc in the penthouse apartment. This pesky, peekaboo-playing little monkey, however, not only helps Ray out of his jam but offers him the companionship he didn't even know he needed. Mercifully, this somewhat updated George isn't computer-generated, doesn't talk and — best of all — never once breaks out into Elton John-penned schmaltz. Instead, songwriter Jack Johnson's collection of laid-back, sunshine pop tunes unobtrusively support the sweet and surprisingly touching story line, rather than the other way around. --Ken Fox
