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Film Title: Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey

 Best for ages: 2 & Up

Movie Website:  Click Here

Year Released: 2010

Rated: G (US)

The Review

  PBS has always been long known for it’s educational programming, more specifically their children’s educational programming.  One of my daughter’s favorite shows is Curious George. Almost every day Curious George is a show that is on in our house, whether it be on the television or one of the many discs that we have of the cartoon, my daughter loves the little monkey. I guess my mother is responsible for the introduction of Curious George in my daughters life, when my mother was younger they had the claymation version of Curious George on television and my mother even has some of those episodes on DVD.  My daughter loved them all, so it was no surprise that when Curious George 2: Follow that Monkey hit our doorstep a few days ago, that it was in the DVD player right out of the box and has been viewed about a dozen times in the past four days by everyone in the house.

   Curious George 2: Follow that Monkey follows George on his adventure with the man in the yellow hat (Ted) and his new friend Kayla, a baby elephant that is part of a magic act. Ted is really busy trying to get a report together for the museum, He’s looking at a big promotion. However, his girl friend Maggie thinks it would be a good idea to go to the magic show and so off they go with George leading the way. While there, George curiously takes over and he figures out how Piccadilly the magician does his tricks.  He then meets Kayla the elephant and the two find a way out of the theater and into the big city.  Kayla misses her family really bad, so George brings her to the train station and they get on a train headed to California. Yet the theaters head of security, Mr. Wolfe, is determined to find George and Kayla using any means necessary and threatens the man in the yellow hat to find them ASAP.  Our course The man finds them, but gets stuck in the trains cargo cart with George and Kayla and ends up going on an adventure with them from New York to California in search of Kayla’s family. However, Mr Wolfe puts out an APB on them and everyone in the country is looking for the elephant kidnappers. The man in the yellow hat, will have to do his best to get George home along with Kayla and explain to the country that Kayla just wanted to be with her family. But Mr. Wolfe won’t let them go so easily.

   Being big fans of the Curious George television shows and the books, we knew going into this one that we were going to like it.  However, one of my concerns is that while George is always getting himself into trouble on the TV show there is never really any acts of violence in the show. In this movie however there is. Mr. Wolfe is a man who threatens to hurt everyone with his karate skills and with the power of words threatens to do much worse. Of course nothing violent comes of it, but there are some thrilling moments such as jumping from a plane without a parachute and landing in the lake in Central Park, that is a bit dramatic and thrilling. However, If you think that this film is like the TV show, then you’ll be surprised by it’s thrilling elements. It still has that great Curious George feeling to it, but it is a bit more thrilling and adventurous.

    The DVD has a few special features which include two never before seen shows from the all-new TV series.  The disc also includes games and activities featuring George,  plus includes a great soundtrack with music by Brain Wilson and Carbon Leaf. My wife really liked the music in this little film, and so did I, it made it more enjoyable for adults to watch. The soundtrack really made the film that much better for the both of us and from having to watch the film on a daily basis; we have fallen into the trap of having them stuck in our heads.

   Overall, this is not the typical Curious George adventure we see on PBS everyday.  I think the television show is more toned down for a younger audience and this film was meant to catch the eye of not only the toddlers, but older children as well. Curious George has been around for a long time, and I cannot see him and The Man in the Yellow Hat going anywhere soon. This is another fun adventure with George and company and despite some of it’s more thrilling aspects it’s well worth the buy if your child is in love with the television show like our daughter is. It’s a fun DVD packed with some really good extras and that great soundtrack also.

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