Curious George is a 2006 American animated adventure family film based on the book series by H.A. and Margret Rey. It stars Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, and Dick Van Dyke and Frank Welker as the title character. Matthew O'Callaghan directed (after replacing Jun Falkenstein). It features new songs by Jack Johnson. This project had been under development at Imagine Entertainment for a long time, dating back at least as long ago as 1992 (and possibly many years before this).
The screenplay was written by Ken Kaufman, with a story by Kaufman and Mike Werb. Although it is a traditionally animated film, about twenty percent of it takes place in 3D environments that were computer-generated. It was the first Universal Pictures theatrically-released feature-length fully animated film since 1995's Balto, and Imagine Entertainment's first animated film.
The film grossed $69.8 million from a $50 million budget and has a 70% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, which calls it "a bright, sweet, faithful adaptation".
Due to the success of the film, the franchise was adapted to a TV series on PBS Kids, with Jeff Bennett replacing Ferrell as the voice of the Man with the Yellow Hat.
Cast[]
- Will Ferrell as Theodore "Ted" Shackleford/The Man in the Yellow Hat, Curious George's friend. He is clumsy but resilient and compassionate. In a deleted scene, his last name is established as Shackleford.
- Frank Welker as Curious George, a curious monkey who is compassionate and clever, with a proficiency in the visual art.
- Drew Barrymore as Margaret "Maggie" Dunlop, a teacher and Ted's love interest. She is named after Margaret Rey, one of Curious George's creators.
- David Cross as Junior Bloomsberry, the son and only child of the museum's owner.
- Eugene Levy as Clovis, a museum employee who builds robotic animals to help him with his work.
- Joan Plowright as Ms. Plushbottom, Ted's neighbor. She is an opera singer.
- Dick Van Dyke as Mr. Bloomsberry, the kind, elderly owner of the museum.
- Ed O'Ross as Ivan, the Russian doorman at Ted's apartment building.
- Michael Chinyamurindi as Edu, Ted's African guide.
- Billy West as the Manager, a man who buys stuff.
- Jeff Bennett as the Salesman, a man who buys stuff.
- Clint Howard as the Balloon Man, a man who buys balloons.
Production[]
In various points during its development, it was proposed that the film be entirely CG or live action mixed with CG, before the decision was finally made to use traditional animation to bring the titular character to life. As of July 2001, Brad Bird had written a script for the film.
Director Matthew O'Callaghan greatly appreciated having Dick Van Dyke voice one of the characters. "I was surprised when I actually finally met him that he had never done an animated voice before, with his association with Disney for all those years. I was just blown away so I'm going, 'This is great,' because as an animation director you always want to use people who are fresh, who haven't done animated voices – at least I do." he said. Voice-recording sessions took place in 2004. Afterward, animation production began at Wang Film Productions. Around this time, Universal Cartoon Studios had moved its offices into Universal City, California, and Hollywood Production Center had bought its Glendale studio.
CG supervisor Thanh John Nguyen states that they tried to duplicate the look of the cars in the book, which Executive Producer Ken Tsumura describes as bearing the look of the 1940s and 1950s; according to production designer Yarrow Cheney, the filmmakers also partnered with Volkswagen to design the red car that Ted drives, simplifying it a bit and rounding the edges. Cheney also said that prior to this they had based some of the models on Volkswagens due to their suitability.
Trivia[]
- It has trailers for Curious George, Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, PollyWorld, and The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers music video.
Gallery[]
Home Video Gallery[]
