Curious George (film)
Encyclopedia
Curious George is a 2006 traditionally animated
film adaptation
of the children's stories
by H.A. and Margret Rey
. Will Ferrell
voices Ted. Matthew O'Callaghan directed (after replacing Jun Falkenstein
). This project had been in development hell
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 Michael McCullers
, Dan Gerson
, Rob Baird, Joe Stillman
and Karey Kirkpatrick
. Although it is a traditionally animated film, about twenty percent of it takes place in 3D environments that were computer-generated. This was Universal's first theatrically released feature-length animated film since 1995's Balto
. It was Imagine Entertainment
's first animated film.
named George (Frank Welker
) lives in the jungles of Africa
. His behavior amuses the other young jungle animals, but angers their parents; therefore George is left sad and alone.
Meanwhile, at the Bloomsberry Museum, Ted (Will Ferrell
), a museum
employee, teaches schoolchildren about natural history, not realizing that his lectures bore them. Afterward, he has a talk with Maggie (Drew Barrymore
), the school teacher, who admires him and for whom he has strong feelings. Later, Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke
), the owner of the museum, tells Ted that he is pressed to close the museum by his son, Bloomsberry Junior (David Cross
), who wishes to build a parking garage in its stead. This upsets Ted, who suggests, to revive the museum's popularity, that they obtain a statue called the Lost Shrine
of Zagawa. Mr. Bloomsberry is too old to go, but Ted quickly volunteers to make the expedition. Junior, frustrated, modifies his father's map of Africa to prevent Ted from finding the Shrine.
Ted is tricked into purchasing a yellow safari outfit with a yellow hat. In Africa, Ted leads a group on a four-day hike to the lost shrine. George spots the yellow hat and, mistaking it for a large banana, follows the group. They soon notice each other and become friends. When Ted reaches the end of Junior's sabotaged map, he encounters a miniature idol; believing this to be Zagawa itself, he gets depressed. He gets a call from Mr. Bloomsberry and sends a picture of the statue. However, the angle of the picture causes Mr. Bloomsberry to believe the idol is much bigger. Ted returns to the docks, while George quickly follows with the hat. George sneaks onto the ship and rides to the city without Ted's knowledge.
Upon arrival, Ted rides home in a taxi, and George follows him all the way to his apartment. Through a series of misadventures, Ted is evicted for violating a no-pets rule. Upset, Ted wonders what he is going to do with George. Together, they walk to the Bloomsberry Museum, where crowds of people await to see the idol. Junior overhears Ted complaining about the tiny idol and use this to humiliate Ted. George inadvertently destroys a dinosaur skeleton, and Junior shoves Ted out of the museum.
With nowhere to go, Ted and George sleep in a park. The next morning, Ted awakes to find George gone. Hearing a commotion, he follows it to a zoo, where he finds George with Maggie and her class. Ted attempts to court Maggie, but George starts floating away, suspended by a bunch of balloons, and Ted goes after him in the same way. Together, they fly around the city, held aloft by Ted's balloons and using a kite to control their direction. When they float over the Bloomsberry museum, Ted holds out the idol and wishes it were big, which gives him an idea.
Ted visits Clovis, an inventor who built the museum's Zagawa exhibit, who has a projection machine that can create a 40-foot-tall hologram of any object. Ted takes the projector to the museum, intending to use it to display the idol. He shows it to Mr. Bloomsbury, who agrees it would save the museum, but Junior sabotages the projector, framing George for it. Ted is forced to admit the truth to the thousands of people waiting outside, including Maggie, disappointing everyone. Angry at him, Ted allows George to be taken away by Animal Control officers and be shipped back to Africa. However, Ted's conscience convinces him that he has made a mistake or wronged his friend, as he confesses to Maggie.
Ted gets on the cargo ship and frees George. While he tries to explain to George that their friendship is more important than any idol, a beam of sunlight passes through the tiny statue, creating a pictogram showing the location of the full-size idol. Ted then realizes the true meaning of an ancient writing he saw back in Africa. Ted and George therefore travel to Africa in the ship's cargo bay, to rejoin Edu, Ted's guide, and find the true idol. Upon the exhibit's re-opening, the museum is redesigned to be more interactive, thereby igniting the children's interest in science and history. Ted and Maggie are about to become a couple in earnest when George again interrupts them by hijacking a nearby spacecraft.
had written a script for 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.
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 '50s; 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.
and $11.4 million overseas, totaling $69.8 million worldwide and becoming a minor success. The film was received fairly well by critics and earned a 69% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes
. Roger Ebert
praised the design of the film and its faithfulness to the “spirit and innocence of the books.” Since he himself didn’t particularly enjoy the film, Ebert made an exception in this case in recommending it for young children based on its better qualities, a point on which he said he disagreed somewhat with his TV show co-host Richard Roeper. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly
was “pleasantly surprised” by the film’s calm tone, which he found to be against modern trends, but said that George was perhaps a bit too sweet and that the “movie comes close to denying he's any sort of troublemaker”. He noted somewhat negatively the few modern anachronisms in the film. Brian Lowry of Variety
was fairly negative of the film, criticizing the quality of the animation, the music, and other aspects. Lowry notes that there are some updates to the story, such as that “The Man in the Yellow Hat” from the books is finally given a name.” He also notes that David Cross’ animated character bears a strong resemblance to the actor himself. Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune noted that the film’s use of ‘’traditional cell painting and digital effects’’ compliments the original watercolor illustrations, and thought the film entertaining and yet still quite simple. He considered the difficulties in adapting the original stories (in which George basically causes trouble and the Man in the Yellow Hat fixes it all up) into a film, and how some conflict and a slight romantic subplot were added.
is the soundtrack to the film, featuring songs by Jack Johnson
and Sally Williams. In its first week on Billboard 200
albums chart, the soundtrack made it to number one, making it Jack Johnson's first number one album (In Between Dreams
peaked at two, On and On peaked at three) and making it the first soundtrack to reach number one since the Bad Boys II
soundtrack in August 2003 and the first soundtrack to an animated film to top the Billboard 200 since Pocahontas
reigned for one week in July 1995.
from 2007 to 2008. Following Disney's Aladdin, the film aired on ABC Family
on November 18, 2008, with an encore presentation on November 19, 2008, along with a re-airing of Garfield: The Movie. The film aired on Nickelodeon
on December 19, 2010. PBS Kids
had aired the film on November 23, 2011 and November 24, 2011.
animated television series, also called Curious George
narrated by William H. Macy
for Season 1 and Rino Romano
from Season 2 onwards.
, Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!
was included in the special features for The Tale of Despereaux
. The sequel was released on March 2, 2010.
The plot for the sequel centers around George becoming friends with a young elephant named Kayla. George tries to help Kayla travel across the country to be reunited with her family.
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the children's stories
Curious George
Curious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books by the same name, written by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey. The books feature a curious brown monkey named George, who is brought from his home in Africa by "The Man with The Yellow Hat" to live with him in a big city.When...
by H.A. and Margret Rey
Margret Rey
Margret Elizabeth Rey , born Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein, was , the co-author and illustrator of children's books, the most famous of which are the Curious George series....
. Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
voices Ted. Matthew O'Callaghan directed (after replacing Jun Falkenstein
Jun Falkenstein
Jun Falkenstein is an animation director, writer, and story artist. She is best known for directing the Disney theatrical feature The Tigger Movie.-Film and television work:* 2011: Gatchaman. Director....
). This project had been in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
at Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.Its productions include the television series 24 and Arrested Development and the films Apollo 13 , A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code .-Organization:Karen...
for a long time, dating back at least as long ago as 1992 (and possibly many years before this).
The screenplay was written by Michael McCullers
Michael McCullers
Michael McCullers is an American comedy film screenwriter.-Biography:A native of Indian Springs Village, Alabama, McCullers is a former writer on Saturday Night Live and is best known for co-writing the script for two Austin Powers movies, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers...
, Dan Gerson
Dan Gerson
Daniel "Dan" Gerson is a writer who lives in California. He has worked behind the scenes on films such as Monsters Inc., Chicken Little, Curious George, Cars, Meet the Robinsons and many US TV shows like Misguided Angeles, Big Wolf on Campus and Something So Right.He was also a voice actor in the...
, Rob Baird, Joe Stillman
Joe Stillman
Joseph Stillman is an American television and movie writer, producer and director.Before becoming a screenwriter he worked for several TV shows like Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill, Doug and The Adventures of Pete & Pete....
and Karey Kirkpatrick
Karey Kirkpatrick
Karey Kirkpatrick is an American screenwriter and director. His films include James and the Giant Peach, Space Jam, The Iron Giant, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Charlotte's Web and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy adaptation. He has also directed the films, Imagine That starring Eddie Murphy as...
. Although it is a traditionally animated film, about twenty percent of it takes place in 3D environments that were computer-generated. This was Universal's first theatrically released feature-length animated film since 1995's Balto
Balto (film)
Balto is a 1995 American animated comedy-drama film directed by Simon Wells and produced by Amblimation, and the first of the overall trilogy. The film is based on a true story about the dog of the same name who helped save children from the diphtheria epidemic in the 1925 serum run to Nome...
. It was Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.Its productions include the television series 24 and Arrested Development and the films Apollo 13 , A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code .-Organization:Karen...
's first animated film.
Plot
A clumsy, mischievous, friendly and curious monkeyMonkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
named George (Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
) lives in the jungles of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. His behavior amuses the other young jungle animals, but angers their parents; therefore George is left sad and alone.
Meanwhile, at the Bloomsberry Museum, Ted (Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
), a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
employee, teaches schoolchildren about natural history, not realizing that his lectures bore them. Afterward, he has a talk with Maggie (Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
), the school teacher, who admires him and for whom he has strong feelings. Later, Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
), the owner of the museum, tells Ted that he is pressed to close the museum by his son, Bloomsberry Junior (David Cross
David Cross
David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
), who wishes to build a parking garage in its stead. This upsets Ted, who suggests, to revive the museum's popularity, that they obtain a statue called the Lost Shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
of Zagawa. Mr. Bloomsberry is too old to go, but Ted quickly volunteers to make the expedition. Junior, frustrated, modifies his father's map of Africa to prevent Ted from finding the Shrine.
Ted is tricked into purchasing a yellow safari outfit with a yellow hat. In Africa, Ted leads a group on a four-day hike to the lost shrine. George spots the yellow hat and, mistaking it for a large banana, follows the group. They soon notice each other and become friends. When Ted reaches the end of Junior's sabotaged map, he encounters a miniature idol; believing this to be Zagawa itself, he gets depressed. He gets a call from Mr. Bloomsberry and sends a picture of the statue. However, the angle of the picture causes Mr. Bloomsberry to believe the idol is much bigger. Ted returns to the docks, while George quickly follows with the hat. George sneaks onto the ship and rides to the city without Ted's knowledge.
Upon arrival, Ted rides home in a taxi, and George follows him all the way to his apartment. Through a series of misadventures, Ted is evicted for violating a no-pets rule. Upset, Ted wonders what he is going to do with George. Together, they walk to the Bloomsberry Museum, where crowds of people await to see the idol. Junior overhears Ted complaining about the tiny idol and use this to humiliate Ted. George inadvertently destroys a dinosaur skeleton, and Junior shoves Ted out of the museum.
With nowhere to go, Ted and George sleep in a park. The next morning, Ted awakes to find George gone. Hearing a commotion, he follows it to a zoo, where he finds George with Maggie and her class. Ted attempts to court Maggie, but George starts floating away, suspended by a bunch of balloons, and Ted goes after him in the same way. Together, they fly around the city, held aloft by Ted's balloons and using a kite to control their direction. When they float over the Bloomsberry museum, Ted holds out the idol and wishes it were big, which gives him an idea.
Ted visits Clovis, an inventor who built the museum's Zagawa exhibit, who has a projection machine that can create a 40-foot-tall hologram of any object. Ted takes the projector to the museum, intending to use it to display the idol. He shows it to Mr. Bloomsbury, who agrees it would save the museum, but Junior sabotages the projector, framing George for it. Ted is forced to admit the truth to the thousands of people waiting outside, including Maggie, disappointing everyone. Angry at him, Ted allows George to be taken away by Animal Control officers and be shipped back to Africa. However, Ted's conscience convinces him that he has made a mistake or wronged his friend, as he confesses to Maggie.
Ted gets on the cargo ship and frees George. While he tries to explain to George that their friendship is more important than any idol, a beam of sunlight passes through the tiny statue, creating a pictogram showing the location of the full-size idol. Ted then realizes the true meaning of an ancient writing he saw back in Africa. Ted and George therefore travel to Africa in the ship's cargo bay, to rejoin Edu, Ted's guide, and find the true idol. Upon the exhibit's re-opening, the museum is redesigned to be more interactive, thereby igniting the children's interest in science and history. Ted and Maggie are about to become a couple in earnest when George again interrupts them by hijacking a nearby spacecraft.
Cast
- Will FerrellWill FerrellJohn William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
as Ted Shackleford (The Man in the Yellow Hat), Curious George's friend. He is sent to find the Lost Shrine of Zagawa. He finds George and eventually befriends him loyally. Ted is somewhat clumsy, but remarkably resilient and compassionate. In a deleted sceneDeleted sceneIn Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
, his last name is established as Shackleford. - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Curious George, a chimpanzee living in Africa with his friends, until he follows Ted to what is apparently New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. George is constantly curious, quite innocent of the consequences of his investigations, and compassionate. He is very clever and has an impressive proficiency in visual art, as well as a strong sense of natural beauty. - Drew BarrymoreDrew BarrymoreDrew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
as Maggie Dunlop, a teacher who brings her students to the Bloomsberry museum every Thursday, partly out of duty and partly out of her own romantic admiration for the dedicated and handsome Ted. Maggie is honest with Ted and presumably with her students, who express no visible reaction to her courtship of him. She is Ted's girlfriend. - Dick Van DykeDick Van DykeRichard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
as Mr. Bloomsberry, the kind elderly owner of the museum. Mr. Bloomsberry runs into trouble when profits are down and his son wants to turn the museum in a parking lot. He sends Ted to Africa to find the Lost Shrine of Zagawa, to hopefully attract customers to the museum. - David CrossDavid CrossDavid Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
as Junior, the son and only child of the museum's owner, and the main antagonist of the film. He believes the museum would be of more use as a parking garage. He bears little physical appearance to his father, and is apparently jealous of Ted, who is one of the elder Bloomsberry's favorites. Ultimately, Junior becomes his father's employee and thereby earns the elder's much-coveted praise. - Eugene LevyEugene LevyEugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...
as Clovis, a museum employee who is an eccentric inventor. He builds robotic animals to help him with his work. - Joan PlowrightJoan PlowrightJoan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
as Ms. Plushbottom, a neighbor of Ted's at his apartment builidng, Ms. Plushbottom is an opera singer about to have her room repainted. George shocks her by painting murals in her room. She takes long baths while wearing slices of cucumberCucumberThe cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
on her eyelids and reacts noisily when people surprise her. She is the owner of a parking garage near the museum, which draws a great deal of revenue. The revelation of this is somewhat to Junior's annoyance. - Ed O'RossEd O'RossEd O'Ross is an American actor perhaps best known for playing the giggling spectacled gangster Itchy in Dick Tracy, ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rostavili in Red Heat, and tough-then-alien-possessed police detective Cliff Willis in The Hidden.-Early life:O'Ross was born Edward Oross in...
as Ivan, the doorman at Ted's apartment building, and possibly its landlord. When George finds his way to Ted's apartment, Ivan evicts both of them. At the end of the film, he befriends George, who had painted a portrait of Ivan on its model's back and gives Ted his apartment room back. Ivan is a large man who speaks with something akin to a Russian accent and has an especially sharp sense of smell. He can often be belligerent and frightening, though he is softhearted when George shows a liking for him. He starts off as a minor antagonist of the film. At the end, he becomes protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
. - Michael Chinyamurindi as Edu, Ted's African guide on both expeditions made to find the Lost Shrine of Zagawa. He is patient with Ted's clumsiness and speaks little to him, smiling indulgently.
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 2001, Brad BirdBrad Bird
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an Academy Award-winning American director, voice actor, animator and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille . He also adapted and directed the critically acclaimed 2D animated 1999 Warner Brothers...
had written a script for 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.
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 '50s; According to Production Designer Yarrow Cheney, the filmmakers also partnered with Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
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.
Difference between the film and original books
- In the books, the Man in the Yellow Hat does not have a love interest, nor is his given name ever revealed. The original books focus solely on George's misadventureMisadventureMisadventure can refer to:* Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures, a 2005 video game* The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, a 1964 Walt Disney film* The Misadventures of P.B...
s, and on the Man's getting him out of trouble. Here, George is more of a catalyst to his friend's adventureAdventureAn adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
s. - George, in the book, was captured by a bag. In the movie, George follows the Man in the Yellow Hat.
- In the film, when George climbs up the dinosaur bones the skeleton shatters, whereas in the books George climbs down.
- Numerous changes were made to Curious George’s appearance, such as the large eyes with pupils that replace the small black dots from the book.
Reception and box office performance
When the film was released to 2,566 theaters on February 10, 2006 and opened at #3 with a total opening weekend gross of $14,703,405 averaging to about $5,730 per theater. The film grossed a better-than-expected $58.3 million in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and $11.4 million overseas, totaling $69.8 million worldwide and becoming a minor success. The film was received fairly well by critics and earned a 69% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
praised the design of the film and its faithfulness to the “spirit and innocence of the books.” Since he himself didn’t particularly enjoy the film, Ebert made an exception in this case in recommending it for young children based on its better qualities, a point on which he said he disagreed somewhat with his TV show co-host Richard Roeper. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
was “pleasantly surprised” by the film’s calm tone, which he found to be against modern trends, but said that George was perhaps a bit too sweet and that the “movie comes close to denying he's any sort of troublemaker”. He noted somewhat negatively the few modern anachronisms in the film. Brian Lowry of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
was fairly negative of the film, criticizing the quality of the animation, the music, and other aspects. Lowry notes that there are some updates to the story, such as that “The Man in the Yellow Hat” from the books is finally given a name.” He also notes that David Cross’ animated character bears a strong resemblance to the actor himself. Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune noted that the film’s use of ‘’traditional cell painting and digital effects’’ compliments the original watercolor illustrations, and thought the film entertaining and yet still quite simple. He considered the difficulties in adapting the original stories (in which George basically causes trouble and the Man in the Yellow Hat fixes it all up) into a film, and how some conflict and a slight romantic subplot were added.
Soundtrack
Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious GeorgeSing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George
-Chart positions:-Certifications:-Personnel:*Jack Johnson – vocals, guitar, ukulele*Adam Topol – drums*Merlo Podlewski – bass guitar*Zach Gill – vocals, keys*Ben Harper – vocals, guitar*G...
is the soundtrack to the film, featuring songs by Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (musician)
Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a...
and Sally Williams. In its first week on Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart, the soundtrack made it to number one, making it Jack Johnson's first number one album (In Between Dreams
In Between Dreams
-Personnel:*Jack Johnson - vocals, acoustic guitar*Zach Gill - piano, accordion, melodica*Adam Topol - drums*Merlo Podlewski - bass*Mario Caldato, Jr...
peaked at two, On and On peaked at three) and making it the first soundtrack to reach number one since the Bad Boys II
Bad Boys II
Bad Boys II is a 2003 action/comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. It is a sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys. The film is about two police detectives investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami...
soundtrack in August 2003 and the first soundtrack to an animated film to top the Billboard 200 since Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
reigned for one week in July 1995.
Home media history
- September 26, 2006 (DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
) - March 20, 2007 (DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
- 2-pack with The Land Before TimeThe Land Before TimeThe Land Before Time is a 1988 American animated adventure film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth , and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall....
) - November 6, 2007 (DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
- 2-movie collection with BabeBabe (film)Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film directed by Chris Noonan. It is an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States, by Dick King-Smith and tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog...
) (Note: This is a widescreen DVD box set only.) - August 5, 2008 (Carrying Case DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
with Fun Activity Book - Universal Watch on the Go) (Note: This is a pan and scanPan and scanPan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
DVD copy only.)
TV airings
The film aired on HBO and CinemaxCinemax
Cinemax, sometimes abbreviated as simply "Max", is a collection of premium television networks that broadcasts primarily feature films, along with softcore erotica, original action series, documentaries and special behind-the-scenes features. Cinemax is operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a...
from 2007 to 2008. Following Disney's Aladdin, the film aired on ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
on November 18, 2008, with an encore presentation on November 19, 2008, along with a re-airing of Garfield: The Movie. The film aired on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
on December 19, 2010. PBS Kids
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
had aired the film on November 23, 2011 and November 24, 2011.
TV series
The film has been adapted into a PBS KidsPBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
animated television series, also called Curious George
Curious George (TV series)
Curious George is an animated television series based on the Curious George children's book series, which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of The Man with the Yellow Hat. Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, returns here as the voice of Curious George. The stories of Season...
narrated by William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
for Season 1 and Rino Romano
Rino Romano
Rino Romano is a Canadian voice actor who has portrayed Batman in the animated series The Batman, Spider-Man in Spider-Man Unlimited, and Tuxedo Mask in the English dub of the anime Sailor Moon...
from Season 2 onwards.
Sequel
A sneak peek for the sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! is a traditionally-animated film adaptation of the children's stories by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey. It is a sequel to the successful 2006 film Curious George. It was originally titled Curious George: Monkey on the Run.-Plot:The movie starts with George swinging...
was included in the special features for The Tale of Despereaux
The Tale of Despereaux (film)
The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 computer-animated film directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen. Loosely based on the 2003 fantasy book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, the movie is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick and Emma Watson...
. The sequel was released on March 2, 2010.
The plot for the sequel centers around George becoming friends with a young elephant named Kayla. George tries to help Kayla travel across the country to be reunited with her family.