Review - Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), PG, 92 minutes - When we were little, my sister and I used to spend parts of vacations with our grandparents or with one of our aunts and uncles.  My Aunt Carol was a child at heart and loved the old The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.  Her collection of that show on VHS was where I was first introduced to Mr. Peabody & Sherman through their short segments about a dog, his boy and their travels through history.  Aunt Carol is no longer with us (she passed away almost seven and a half years ago from cancer of the everything) and because they remind me of her, these characters hold a special place in my heart.  I went to see the big screen version of Mr. Peabody & Sherman with both excitement and sadness as I wish she had been here to see it with.

Unlike the live action The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle from back in 2000, this adaptation got it right as it stuck with animation.  I had originally worried a little about how they may expand a short segment of a thirty minute cartoon into a feature length film but it worked out well in this case.  They took the basic theme of a genius dog, his adopted boy and their time traveling adventures and added further emotional, humanizing story lines that not only allowed for a longer feature but also provided more depth to the characters.

The animation looks great and the voice overs provided by Ty Burrell (Mr. Peabody), Max Charles (Sherman), Ariel Winter (Penny Peterson), Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann (Mr. and Mrs. Peterson respectively), and a host of others including Stephen Tobolowsky, Allison Janney, Dennis Haysbert, Stanley Tucci, Patrick Warburton, and Mel Brooks were wonderful.  This was clearly an origin story and could potentially lead to future sequels, but it stands on its own quite well also.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is an enjoyable film that dashed my fears and lived up to expectations.  It's a film to be sure to see if you have little ones of your own or have any nostalgic attachment to these characters.  I think Aunt Carol would have enjoyed it and that brings a smile to my face.

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