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(More customer reviews)The popular curious monkey is back once again in another adventure along with Ted and a new friend named Kayla in a cross-country adventure filled with action and humor!
With the success of the first "Curious George" film back in 2006, the popular character from the children stories by H.A. and Margret Rey makes his return to the sequel "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" in a direct-to-DVD release (note: the film made its world premiere last Summer in several countries) from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
In "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey", Mr. Bloombsberry wants Ted (played by Jeff Bennett) to become the next museum director. Excited about his job, he now needs to impress the museum's Board of Director's and has been too busy focusing on his work. With the Piccadilly Circus coming to town, George wants Ted to take him to the circus and Maggie wants Ted to spend more time with her. But he is too focused on working on his presentation.
But nevertheless, he feels he does owe it to George to take him to the Piccadilly Circus and somehow, the two get selected to go up on stage by the magician Piccadilly (played by Tim Curry). But George as curious as ever, ends up at the bottom of the stage and meets a new friend named Kayla, an elephant from the circus who has the talent of juggling and ends up breaking him out of the circus. Government investigators led by Danno Wolfe (played by Jamie Kennedy) are called in to find out on what happened to Kayla the elephant and why its missing. Meanwhile, George is missing as well.
George and Kayla end up walking through the city together with George taking back Kayla to his home. George and Kayla then watch a newscast in which Hark Hanson (played by NBC's "Today Show" host Matt Lauer) talks about the missing elephant and how he lived in California with his siblings. George realizes that Kayla is homesick and missing his family. Meanwhile, as a search for the elephant continues and news reports saying that the elephant was stolen, Ted goes back home and finds out that George and Kayla have been at the residence all this time. This is the last thing he needs to deal with because he has to prepare for his presentation to the museum Board of Directors.
But before he can make the call to have Kayla returned, George decides to help Kayla go back home to California by going to the train station. And thus, Ted goes after them and finds the two inside a train box car. As he tries to convince them that they need to get out of the box car, the train starts moving and the next thing you know, the three are stuck inside and now are being taken cross country in the middle of nowhere.
Meanwhile, the investigation starts to center on Ted as the main suspect in Kayla's disappearance and people including Ted's boss Mr. Bloomsberry and even Maggie believe there must be a reason why Ted may have escaped with Kayla. Ted knows he's in a deep mess but hopefully he can clear his name. But for George, all he wants is to make sure Kayla the elephant sees his brother and sister.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" is featured in anamorphic widescreen (1:78:1). Featuring the same vibrant style and painted backgrounds along with CG incorporated from the first film, "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" manages to capture the characters and the world of "Curious George" quite well. Featuring a pretty colorful pallet, and beautiful artistic backgrounds, fans of the first film will no doubt enjoy the animation used in the sequel.
As for audio, audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish and French Dolby Digital 2.0. Audio quality is nice and clear, dialogue is understandable and music is also crystal clear through the front and center channels.
Subtitles are in English SDH, Espanol and Francais.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" comes with the following special features:
* Curious George's Cross Country Caper Game - Using your DVD remote control, you can help George and Kayla travel throughout the country safely.
* "Hold On, Here We Go" Music Video - (2:25) Featuring an animated video with clips from the film.
* DVD-Rom - By playing the DVD on a computer (DVD-Rom Drive), you can access printable coloring pages, wallpapers and more.
* Bonus TV episodes - Featuring two never-before-seen TV episodes (around 12 minutes each) from the new TV season of "Curious George" - "A Monkey's Duckling" in which a baby duckling thinks George is its mother. In "George's Super Subway Adventure", George as curious as always, hops aboard a subway in the city without Ted and thus Ted tries to go after him.
JUDGMENT CALL:
In my household, "Curious George" has been a big part of my young son's upbringing. From the animated television series, to the coloring books, reading books and the first film, I watched "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" alongside with him and he absolutely loved it and giggling at many parts of the film.
As for me, I enjoyed the film. As usual, George's curiosity tends to get Ted in a bit of a bind and in this case, a fun adventure throughout the country. The sequel also features a good number of talent such as Tim Curry as Picadilly the magician, Jamie Kennedy as investigator "Danno" Wolfe, Matt Lauer as news host Hark Hanson, Jerry Lewis as the stationmaster, Frank Welker as a cow, Amy Hill as a flower pot lady and many others with short vocal cameos.
Where the first film featured adventure and the romance between Ted and Maggie, there is less of the relationship factor between the two adults but focusing on the adventure of Ted, George and Kayla ad featuring a message to those who tend to put work ahead of their love ones. But for the most part, this is a fun "Curious George" film.
In a parent standpoint, for me...I felt the film was quite safe but there is one segment in the film which Ted, George and Kayla meet new friends who own a farm and the son of the farmer is jumping high and landing in a haystack and then they all take part in the jumping of the haystack. My son thought that was such a cool thing and wondered if he can go up high and land on things and thus, it's important to talk to your child about those type of situations and making sure that he/she knows that they can't jump high from anything and land on whatever.
As for the DVD, it's a pretty entertaining and educational DVD with a game, DVD-Rom features such as coloring pages and wallpaper, two never-before-seen TV episodes and more.
Overall, "Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey" is just as entertaining as the original animated film. A lot of fun, humor, beautiful and vibrant animation and both myself and my seven-year-old enjoyed the film/DVD and I imagine parents and their children would enjoy this DVD release as well! Definitely recommended!
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Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey (2009)The world’s most beloved and inquisitive monkey is back in Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey, the fun-filled sequel to the hit animated movie. Join Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat as they set out on a madcap cross-country adventure to reunite Kayla, a homesick elephant, with her family. This unlikely trio faces all types of comic calamities and colorful characters and in the end learn that with family, friends and determination you can achieve anything. Featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Matt Lauer, Jamie Kennedy and Jerry Lewis, Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey, “proves that family, friends—and curiosity—are number one." (Francine Brokaw, Los Angeles Family Magazine)
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