OWTK is not a movie/television household but we three have been anxiously awaiting the DVD release of our daughter's favorite (ok, only) big screen film - Curious George!We took her to see Curious George for her 2nd birthday and thought it would be the perfect airplane distraction for our long trip to France, but as the months wore on and their was no pre-order ads, advanced promotion, etc. we thought the thing was never going to be released on DVD. Well, the wait ended 2 weeks ago (4 days after our flight to Paris - nice timing!). I purchased the disc yesterday and was alarmed at the presence of one of those un-fast-forwardable DVD commercials... for a Barbie movie!
We are not a Barbie/Disney Princess family. We prefer women to be portrayed as realistic, strong, stubborn, brave, independent and not beauty (for-the-sake-pleasing-and-winning-the-affections-of-a-man) fanatics.
Alas, I managed the right combination of title menu/disc menu/fast forward buttons and was able to proceed directly to the George main menu. Disaster averted!
Curious George is one of the purest, most enjoyable KIDS movies I have ever seen. It has none of the hidden adult humor, vague sexual innuendo, or crude and unnecessary language that most modern animated "children's" features contain. It is a simple tale told directly to our young children. Need another reason to love it? The female "lead" in the film, voice supplied by Drew Barrymore, does something quite admirable - she stands up and speaks her mind. In one of the closing scenes, George's friend has allowed the adorable little monkey to be shipped back to Africa. When he expresses remorse for this decision, she calls him on the carpet and tells him he was wrong. Very cool. That conversation pushes the man with the yellow hat (and suit) to go after Curious George. The film then ends on a very positive note.
I remember reading a review, one of the first published, back when this movie was released in theaters in late February 2006. This particular critic put down the film saying it is boring and parents would have to suffer sitting through a dull kid's feature. I was mildly outraged by the notion that a parent/adult must be given something special, targeted just at them, in order to make a experience for a child worth-their-while. What about the joy that comes from seeing your child love and embrace something all themselves. Are we that selfish, that seeing our kids be happy is not enough for us as parents?
But I digress, the film is terrific - as is the soundtrack. If you have not seen the movie or heard the music yet, I do recommend checking both out.
Jeff
OWTK
http://www.owtk.com
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