Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Opening Weekend Box Office: #2 with $32,207,057
Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $68,168,669
Gross Revenue: $153,168,669
Production Budget: $145 million
Director: Rob
Minkoff
It is easy to question the wisdom of selecting Mr. Peabody & Sherman as the first
Classic Media property to receive feature-length treatment, especially given
the overall lack of familiarity amongst today’s youth with the characters, but
the production team sure had history working in their favor. Director Rob Minkoff is best known for having
delivered The Lion King, while
Tiffany Ward, daughter of legendary animator and original series creator Jay
Ward, served as executive producer; needless to say, this team was more than
capable of delivering award-caliber material that would respect an unchallenged
legacy of excellence. Now, originally, a
Rocky and Bullwinkle short was to
accompany Mr. Peabody & Sherman
in theaters and would have provided an excellent marketing hook, but it was
eventually swapped-out for “Almost Home,” an introduction to DreamWorks’
upcoming November release…while I do understand the wisdom of this tactical
decision, it still seemed like a missed opportunity to appeal to the nostalgia
of older potential audiences. The recent
restructuring of the studio’s Consumer Products division was going to limit the
amount of merchandise on shelves, but that didn’t stop other marketing
initiatives and promotional materials from picking up the slack, whether that involved
the numerous bus stop ads or the hysterical television spots that played to the
funny bone of dog lovers (my personal favorite involved Peabody struggling to
make Sherman a peanut butter sandwich).
And so, despite a few marketing tactics arriving to the gate a little late,
awareness was high and early critical reaction was strong, meaning that Mr. Peabody & Sherman could
definitely surprise everyone at the box office.
Based on the classic Peabody’s Improbable History cartoons, Mr. Peabody & Sherman
introduces audiences to the smartest living being in the world, the
bespectacled talking canine, Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell): not only is this Nobel
Laureate an accomplished Olympic Athlete, but he is also responsible for other
pop-culture phenomena like Zumba and the fist bump. Yearning for family, Peabody adopts and
raises a human boy, Sherman (Max Charles), and together, the two use a
revolutionary time machine known as the WABAC (pronounced “way back”) to travel
through history and learn alongside legendary figures. Unfortunately, Sherman soon runs afoul of
classmate Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter), and after a bullying incident, Peabody’s
parenting skills are called into question by Children Services agent Mrs.
Grunion (Allison Janney); the bigoted bureaucrat threatens to remove Sherman
from Peabody’s care if he fails an upcoming inspection. Desperate to resolve the conflict, Peabody
arranges a dinner party with the Petersons; though the sophisticated host is
able to charm Penny’s parents, Paul (Stephen Colbert) and Patty (Leslie Mann), the
children are placed in danger after Sherman ends up revealing the family secret
and joyrides with Penny in the WABAC, only to lose his tormentor in Ancient
Egypt. Working together, Peabody and
Sherman begin to search for Penny, embarking on an adventure that takes them
everywhere from Renaissance Florence with Leonardo da Vinci (Stanley Tucci) to
the Trojan War with King Agamemnon (Patrick Warburton)…but remember, time
travel ALWAYS has unintended consequences!
As a fan of the original cartoon, I had some pretty
high expectations for Mr. Peabody &
Sherman, and between the brilliant humor and downright lovable characters,
I am happy to report that this feature offers plenty of enjoyment for audiences
of all ages. Ty Burrell’s comedic timing
is beyond reproach on Modern Family,
and the talented actor brings the same goofy charm to Mr. Peabody in order to
earn a chuckle from even the corniest of puns.
And then there’s Max Charles, who is so incredibly earnest and innocent
as Sherman that you cannot help but become instantaneously engaged and share in
his curiosity as he acts as the audience proxy.
The two characters play perfectly together, share a genuinely tender
father-son dynamic (The “Beautiful Boy” sequence is heartwarming), and pave the
way for the virtually non-stop humor that covers the entire spectrum of gag
from pratfall to obscure historical reference.
Thank God I paid attention in European History, or the best jokes would
have been lost. Consider the added
benefit of sharp writing, dynamic settings, and the supportive vocal talents of
Stanley Tucci and Patrick Warburton (sure-fire audience favorites), and Mr. Peabody & Sherman holds-up
against even the most pessimistic of criticisms.
Though I could go on and on about all the ways I
enjoyed Mr. Peabody & Sherman, in
the name of balance, I must acknowledge a few of the weaker elements, but rest
assured that none are particularly damaging to the quality of the final
product. While the titular characters
are thoroughly enjoyable, I do have a bit of a problem with the tritagonist,
Penny Peterson; I understand that a bully was needed as a MacGuffin to start
our adventure, but this girl has such a toxic introduction that her redemptive
story arc is a little insulting. Now,
that’s certainly not a criticism of Ariel Winter’s vocal performance, and my
attitude towards the character did soften during my second viewing, but be
warned that dear little Penny isn’t likely to leave a positive impression. A second criticism involves the perceived overuse
of obscure humor: history majors will love the references, but a majority of
kids will miss the gags on historical figures and the blink-and-you miss it
cameos…but really, we’d all be worried if the little moviegoer next to us
actually understood the Oedipus joke, so why not embrace the innocence? In the end, the movie still teaches that
bullying is bad, shows that history can be fun, and is far smarter than a
majority of what kids are watching today anyways, so a trip to the theater is
well worth your time.
As I mentioned earlier, non-franchise properties
have had a bit of a rocky time at the box office lately, so a second place
opening of $32 million was a little worrisome, especially since it was behind
something so decidedly subpar as 300:
Rise of An Empire. But then,
something very rare happened: the family comedy with a historical twist jumped
to a #1 ranking in its SECOND weekend, benefitting from positive word of mouth to
boast only a 32% week-to-week decline…to put that number into context, consider
that such a holdover is better than both The
Croods and How to Train Your Dragon. Competition does increase a bit in coming
weeks with Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted
and Blue Sky’s Rio 2, but foreign
receipts should continue to help chip away at the $145 million production
budget. Looking forward, I can only hope
to see more of Peabody and Sherman in the future, be it on television or on the
big screen…and let’s not forget the wonderful myriad of books on their way from
DreamWorks Press! So, do yourself a favor
and make a point of revisiting some classic characters as they revisit some
classic times in Mr. Peabody &
Sherman.
Overall
Recommendation: Very High
