Curious George and Clueless Ted
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We went to see Curious George at the movies this weekend. We were probably at the old end of the target demographic, but my 9-year-old and I have spent many hours reading Curious George stories together since before she could actually read, and we both enjoyed the movie. Unlike many current kids movies, this one doesn’t have a frantic, over-the-top feel to it, and the soundtrack by Jack Johnson is pleasantly calming.
A few thoughts upon reflection:
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The books, being from a different era, have some problematic elements which are edited out for today’s audience:
- George is more or less kidnapped and stuffed in a bag by the man with the yellow hat at the beginning of his adventure. In the movie, George follows the man onto the ship by himself.
- The man with the yellow hat smokes a pipe. I think George might have had a smoke too, in the first book.
- “George” has been redesigned for the movie. Perhaps to make him cuter? Call me reactionary, I like the original George better.
- Although the movie is titled “Curious George”, the movie is mostly about the man with the yellow hat, and the museum that he works for. An alternate title could have been “Clueless Ted and the Legend of Zagara”. I don’t think George is called “Curious George” anywhere in the movie. In the book, he’s only called Curious George in the introduction to each story, which is absent in the movie.
- Ted, the man in the yellow hat, is nice but somewhat geeky and is extraordinarily clueless, failing to notice Drew Barrymore’s character’s interest in him, as opposed to his museum lecture.
- I enjoyed some of the randomness (”my cornea!”). The ship is named “H.A. Rey” after the book’s author. George does an accidental imitation of King Kong, with the aid of a special projector. The antagonist’s goal in life is to build a parking garage.
- I found it vaguely disturbing that the man in the yellow hat disowns George and sends him away in a cage. The recurring theme in the books is that George, childlike, gets into trouble because of his curiosity, but the parent-like man in the yellow hat always turns up to rescue him. Sending George away for causing well-intentioned trouble is at odds with the entire body of work.
This is probably best viewed as a movie with some similar elements as the book, rather than actually being the same characters as the original Curious George books. I’m biased, of course, having read the original books when I was in elementary school.
The best investment might be to get the books and listen to the movie soundtrack while reading them (and looking at the original illustrations) with your kids.
(at Amazon)
- The Complete Adventures of Curious George
(collection of the original books)
- A Treasury of Curious George
- The New Adventures of Curious George
- Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George
