But this movie is probably not going to keep the attention of adults or anyone over eight years of age. That is, unless the adults are there to give their children a treat for good behavior. This fare borrows a lot of material from Eddie Murphy’s blockbuster franchise from a previous generation — Dr. Doolittle — the physician who possessed a preternatural ability to communicate with animals. In that film as well, unscrupulous developers wanted to leverage the worth of the forest for profitable building schemes that would leave the lovable animals homeless.
In Yogi Bear, we are transported to Jellystone National Park where the filmmakers craftily fuse live action with animation and 3-D, which delighted the hundreds of young tikes in tow at the movie screening in Atlanta. Yogi and sidekick Boo Boo are back up to those old tricks that delighted the same adults when they themselves were children. The pair launch themselves precariously close to unsuspecting families to pillage their picnic baskets and make a getaway with the goodies. But the tone of the film was slapstick in the tradition of “Hanna Montana,” “Head of the Class,” and “That’s So Raven.” And those TV shows had a specific demographic it was trying to reach. So, too, it appears with Yogi Bear.
But then again, the kids enjoyed themselves. And they weren’t born when Dr. Doolittle reigned in theaters. So all is good on that front. –terry shropshire
