I once substitute taught a 5th grade art class. I made a passing reference to the Flintstones. All the kids looked at me in confusion. None of them had any idea who the Flintstones were. No one had even heard of them as vitamins. I was shocked and more than a little upset. When I was a kid, Cartoon Network was still showing Hanna Barbera cartoons. Now it’s mostly original programming with specialty networks like Boomerang being reserved for the classics. But the sad truth is, the older these classic cartoons get, the less relevant they’re perceived and they’re soon bumped from the network in favor of newer “classics.”
This is the state of mind in which I went to see Yogi Bear. When I went in to the theatre, I had no desire to see this movie. None of the trailers I had seen seemed remotely appealing. I had set the bar so low, I had convinced myself that I was going out of some blind sense of loyalty to the nowadays virtually non-existent world of Hanna Barbera. But then-- I saw the movie.
This film is going to generate a lot of largely undeserved criticism. Here’s the thing: when Hollywood does adaptations of books, TV shows, or remakes of other successful movies, they’re trying to strike a careful balance. They’re trying to cash in on the audience’s nostalgia without drawing inevitable comparisons to the sometimes better, but often more fondly-remembered, original.
I’m not going to lie, as a student of animation and a self-proclaimed fan of Hanna Barbera, it’s hard to remain unbiased for this review. However, as such, I feel very comfortable making the following statement: Anyone who says, “Yogi Bear is nothing like the cartoon,” has no idea what they’re talking about.
The Yogi Bear cartoon was built on a very simple premise. A perpetually hungry, talking bear who lives in a national park always has a hair-brained scheme to steal picnic baskets from visitors.
TV’s Yogi Bear, like many cartoons people “grew up on,” is remembered as being much more satisfying than it actually is. The animation is limited and much of the charm comes from the stellar voice acting and the humor.
The problem with making an adaptation like this is several-fold. If you don’t change the characters, they feel stale. At the same time, if you update the characters to make them appeal to a younger, more hip generation (*cough*CHIPMUNKS*cough*), you run the risk of alienating the fans who grew up with these characters. The people who made Yogi Bear did a great job of allowing the movie to feel modern, all the while never straying from who the characters are known to be.
SPOILER ALERT: This is the plot.
Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) is the head ranger of Jellystone Park and he wants nothing more than for Yogi Bear to stop bothering visitors. Yogi, naturally, with his stalwart companion Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake) by his side, wants nothing more than to swipe picnic baskets. It’s then revealed that the park is in trouble. The villainous mayor thinks state parks are no longer valid as tourist attractions and if it can’t raise money to make back it’s budget in a week, it will be closed forever and sold off to loggers and developers. Enter: Rachel, Smith’s love interest, played by Anna Faris. Rachel, a documentarian (or as Yogi and Boo Boo refer to her, “The Movie-Maker Lady”) shows up with an interest in filming Jellystone, placing a hidden camera in Boo Boo’s bowtie in an effort to get a candid look at the park. Rachel, a nature-phile of Ranger Smith’s caliber seems to quickly forget about filming when she learns of Jellystone’s financial woes. The two fall in love, but fail to raise the money for the park when Yogi accidentally ruins their fundraiser by trying to add a little “razzle-dazzle.” But when the candid footage from Boo Boo’s tie reveals an endangered species living in the park (the elusive “Frog-Mouthed Turtle”), it’s up to Yogi, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, and Rachel to stop the mayor and save Jellystone Park.
Aykroyd does an admirable job as Yogi Bear. Everyone knows how Yogi is supposed to sound, thanks to the oft-imitated cartoon voice of Daws Butler in the style of Art Carney’s Ed Norton. I was anxious at first, but the more Yogi talks, the easier it goes down.
Timberlake’s Boo Boo is amazing. That’s all I can say.
Cavanagh and Faris are good in this movie as well. Especially considering they’re often acting against characters who aren’t really there.
You know who steals every scene he’s in? Andrew Daly as the self-interested Mayor Brown. Every scene he’s in had me laughing out loud. Every scene.
The movie is very self-aware, referring to Yogi as a “talking bear,” apparently a rarity. Perhaps given the source material, it’s not surprising, but by acknowledging the absurd, you’re left with no choice but to suspend your disbelief. Yogi’s a talking bear. Why you ask? Because he’s a bear that talks. Duh.
I really only have one gripe about the plot. If talking bears are rare and despite being the home of not one, but TWO talking bears, Jellystone is still having trouble drawing people in? Really?
Now, I didn't see this movie in 3D. I was so sure it would be such a terrible experience, that I didn't want to drop the extra three bucks to see it in 3D. Garbage in 3D is, after all, still garbage. That said, there were a handful of moments that stuck out as tailor-made for the 3D experience, but they didn't make me enjoy the movie any less.
But that’s it. That’s my only gripe. Yeah. I know. I thought I’d have more than that. But that’s another pitfall of critiquing an adaptation, it’s a known commodity. The story of Yogi Bear is remarkably forgettable. But if you go into Yogi Bear expecting some sort of deep mind-blowing psychological thriller, you will not be entertained. The Yogi Bear movie is what it is: A movie based on the cartoon Yogi Bear. If you like the cartoon—I mean really like it—you’ll probably enjoy yourself.
Is Yogi Bear going to challenge your perspective or blow your mind? Absolutely not. But why should it? This is a movie about a mischievous talking bear whose antics always attempt to draw a smile. And that is exactly what Yogi Bear has always been about.
4 PIC-A-NIC BASKETS out of 5!
Chris has reminded me that I have neglected to mention the Road Runner short that appears at the beginning of the film. Much like Yogi Bear itself, it's nice to see beloved characters like Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner kept alive and treated with such respect. While the short makes the leap to computer generated animaiton, that's really about the only thing that separates it from an original Wile E Coyote/ Road Runner cartoon. The physical gags, the music, even the animation is reminiscent of the original cartoons. Again, it's one of those instances where if the original cartoons weren't your cup of tea, then this short probably won't hold much interest for you. But if you're a fan of the original, you'll most likely enjoy it.
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