Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Director: Ron Minkoff
Screenplay: Craig Wright (additional dialogue by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon; based on the series produced by Jay Ward)
Stars: Ty Burrell (Mr. Peabody), Max Charles (Sherman), Lauri Fraser (Marie Antoinette / Egyptian Woman), Guillaume Aretos (Robespierre), Patrice A. Musick (Teacher), Ariel Winter (Penny Peterson), Karan Brar (Mason), Joshua Rush (Carl), Stephen Tobolowsky (Principal Purdy), Allison Janney (Ms. Grunion), Dennis Haysbert (Judge), Stephen Colbert (Paul Peterson), Leslie Mann (Patty Peterson), Zach Callison (King Tut), Steve Valentine (Ay), Leila Birch (WABAC Machine), Stanley Tucci (Leonardo da Vinci), Lake Bell (Mona Lisa), Patrick Warburton (Agamemnon), Tom McGrath (Odysseus), Mel Brooks (Albert Einstein)
MPAA Rating: PG
Year of Release: 2014
Country: U.S.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Mr. Peabody & ShermanAccording to cartoonist-creator Ted Key, the idea for “Peabody’s Improbable History,” one of the more popular recurring segments on the satirical 1960s cartoon show Rocky and His Friends, sprung from a simple idea: the humorous reversal of a dog having a pet boy. As he and others developed the idea, the dog, named Mr. Peabody after Rocky co-creator Bill Scott’s real-life dog, was turned into a debonair genius who is adept at virtually everything, from scientific invention, to fencing, to the culinary arts. As a birthday present for his boy Sherman, who he adopts form an orphanage, he invents the WABAC (pronounced “Way-Back”) Machine, which allows them to travel to any time or place in history, a conceit that formed the backbone of each episode and allowed the writers to poke fun at historical figures.

Now, some 55 years after the television debut of the first installment of “Peabody’s Improbable History,” the characters have been given the big-screen, 3D CGI treatment in Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which maintains just enough of the irreverent charm and ironic humor of the crudely drawn original series to balance out the sleekness of its new digital presentation. Given the feature-length parameters in which the characters are now operating, much has been added plotwise, particularly in the relationship between dog and boy, which in the original series was a largely uncommented-on running gag but here is presented as a point of emotional engagement. The distant, erudite Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell), aptly described by actor/historian Keith Scott as a “brilliant and rather pragmatically egotistical beagle,” is in every way the opposite of the geeky, awkward, preadolescent Sherman (Max Charles), and their odd-couple pairing is actually explored in the film, rather than just assumed. This creates an entirely different dynamic, not just between the characters, but between the viewer and the story, as we are asked to buy into the dewy-eyed poignancy of their relationship, with the emotionally distant dog-genius letting his feelings finally show while the goofball kid struggles with the torment heaped upon him by peers who know his adoptive dad is a dog.

Sherman is targeted most ruthlessly by Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter), who looks all sugar and spice on the outside, but is actually a brutally relentless tormenter who pushes Sherman to the point that he bites her out of sheer frustration. This creates a rather amusing situation in which Mr. Peabody attempts to win over Penny’s parents (Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann) and a scowling social worker (Allison Janney) while forcing Sherman to play nice with Penny. While Peabody dazzles the parents with wit and drink, Sherman attempts to prove himself to Penny by showing her the WABAC Machine, which sets in motion a chain of events that finds them all bouncing through history, first to save Penny from a potentially disastrous marriage to King Tut’s son and later to repair the kind of mind-boggling time-space shenanigans that are inevitably a part of any movie featuring time travel (one of the funnier and more refreshing aspects of the TV episodes is that Peabody and Sherman’s meddling with the past actually has a beneficial effect each time, enabling a historical figure to fulfill his or her historical role).

The in’s and out’s of the plot are really beside the point, as the humor and enjoyment of the film derives from the interactions with various historical figures, including Marie Antoinette (Lauri Fraser), Leonardo da Vinci (Stanley Tucci), and Agamemnon (Patrick Warburton). Seeing the characters in fully rounded three-dimensional form is a bit jarring for those used to the rough-hewn, simplistic animation of the original series, but the fullness grows on you and suits the characters well enough. At its best, Mr. Peabody & Sherman captures the fundamental pleasures of the old series while also expanding it to fit a genuine emotional register, something I was concerned it would be incapable of really doing. It’s never a slam dunk, but director Rob Minkoff (helming a fully animated film for the first time since 2004’s The Lion King) keeps things lively and moving, resulting in a film that will hopefully win over a new generation to Mr. Peabody’s brilliantly bad puns.

Copyright ©2014 James Kendrick

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All images copyright © 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation

Overall Rating: (3)




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