Mr Peabody & Sherman

This animated film is based on the animated segment Mr Peabody's Impossible History from the popular cartoon The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle by Jay Ward. I'm just gonna be blunt & say that I've never seen it nor do I know much about them! Anyway, this seems like more of a small Hollywood flick for Dreamworks in 2014 compared to the other 2 released this year, How To Train Your Dragon 2 and the upcoming Penguins of Madagascar movie. With director Rob Minkoff, who was also the director of both The Lion King and Stuart Little, under it's belt, will this movie make history feel like a huge adventure, or will it be as bad as the other films based on a cartoon out there? Let's find out! And I'll try & avoid making any Doctor Who jokes considering the time travel premise!

Story: Considering I don't know anything about the show it's based on, I will give it credit that it does establish the characters very well. I love how the movie takes advantage of the time travel premise by having Sherman, Penny & Mr. Peabody go to different places like the French Revolution, Ancient Egypt, Troy & even to Italy around the time of Leonardo da Vinci. It helps that it takes it's time in each of these places as one doesn't overshadow the other & they also manage to take advantage of the time settings for some great humour. However, I do have an issue with the relationship between Mr Peabody & Sherman. It's not bad, but the issue I have is the fact people around them have a huge problem with them because...Mr Peabody is a dog. No other reason despite the fact he's probably the most intelligent being in the world & is obviously capable of raising a human boy! And it doesn't help Ms Grunion is just there to have a villain while the movie would've been fine as just a fun time travel adventure! And the movie also has the trademark Dreamworks pop culture/low brow humour where some is actually good, some aren't really, but at least it's not as bad as past Dreamworks films like Shark Tale or Over The Hedge. Despite the fact it feels like a generic Hollywood animated film, I'll say that it's a good one.

 

Animation: Considering one of Dreamwork's strong points in their movies is their animation, this one is no exception. The character designs do seem to pay tribute to the original cartoon by being cartoony, but I'm not so sure about it looking so polished when the original had that rough look which made it more appealing. Anyway, the texturing on the skin, fur & hair is still really good as it is! Since this is a time travel movie, it takes full advantage with the backgrounds & I have to say, they actually look quite gorgeous, as there are many fast paced action scenes throughout which make it much more fun to look at. Another part I love is the segments where we go into Mr Peabody's mind as we see everything going on from his perspective in order to see how he manages to come up with solutions for different whacky situations him & Sherman and Penny get into. Also, the special effects are very nice to look at like whenever the WABAC goes in time (which also reminds me of Doctor Who for some reason) or when (kinda SPOILERS) when the space/time continuum/paradox goes crazy when different 2 versions of Sherman touch each other. Overall, the animation looks pretty nice to look at, but it doesn't really come close to Dreamwork's best like Rise of the Guardians or the How To Train Your Dragon movies.

Characters: Although I haven't seen the show this is based on, it seems like they've paid tribute to them. Mr. Peabody, voiced by Ty Burrell, is literally the most interesting & intelligent creature ever up to the point that he's admirable. I like how he establishes everything for the audience and is pretty much the driving force of the plot being a loving father to Sherman. Speaking of Sherman, I found him to be a bit grating at times wanting to be independent just because the other people around him tell him to, but he's not as bad as other animated kids I've seen in the past. Penny, voiced by Ariel Winter, while a really harsh bully towards Sherman at the beginning of the movie, suddenly starts to like him as the time travel adventure progresses. The sudden liking to him literally comes out of nowhere & it's never explained why she does other than the movie says so. Her parents, voiced by Stephen Colbert & Leslie Mann, aren't really as quirky as the other characters nor do they appear much, but they can be funny mostly because of their voice actors. Ms Grunion, voiced by Alison Janey, is just there for the movie to have an antagonist & cause conflict between Mr. Peabody & Sherman just because he's a dog! Easily the biggest highlight, next to Mr. Peabody himself, would have to be the historical characters like King Tut, Leonardo da Vinci, King Agamemnon, George Washington & Marie Antoinette whether it's their quirky personalities like with da Vinci & Marie Antoinette, or their voice actor like Patrick Warburton as King Agamemnon. When it comes to the main or the historical characters, they're all likeable & funny, but the others are either pointless or just there for the movie to have that stock character needed for the plot!

 

Although it's not really the best Dreamworks animated film, it's probably likely it was intentionally made to be a small Hollywood time travel film. Mr Peabody & Sherman is a nice time travel adventure with some great humour, nice animation & quirky & fun side characters as well as Mr Peabody himself. I'd really recommend this for Rocky & Bullwinkle fans as they'll like the Easter Eggs throughout or if they want that nostalgic feeling of the original cartoon. It was clearly made more for them despite being good for newcomers & it is nice to watch if there isn't anything else on TV once it comes out on SkyMovies or On Demand. Honestly, it feels refreshing to see a good movie based on a cartoon after so many bad ones (which I shall eventually review some day!)
Story: 7/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Overall: 7/10