Yogi has always relied on his quick wit and fast feet to stay one step ahead of irate campers while dodging his long-suffering nemesis, Ranger Smith. But he and Boo Boo are about to face a situation worse than anything Yogi has ever gotten them into… Jellystone Park is being sold!
To cover his mismanagement of city funds and fuel his election campaign, Mayor Brown plans to sell the park to loggers. Families will no longer be able to experience the natural beauty of the outdoors Jellystone has always provided–and, even worse, Yogi, Boo Boo, and all their friends will be tossed out of the only home they’ve ever known. Faced with his biggest challenge ever, Yogi must prove he really is “smarter than the average bear,” as he and Boo Boo join forces with Ranger Smith to find a way to save the park from closing forever.
I’m not going to mence words here, as an adult you’re probably not going to like Yogi Bear. It’s childish humor mixed in with a very shallow story that’s more predictable than saying the sun is going to rise eventually. Now that we have that out of the way please grow back your heart and understand this movie wasn’t meant for the likes of us. When I sat down to review this film I sat down with my children who absolutely adored it. They thought the antics from Yogi and Boo Boo were hilarious and enjoyed the back and forth humor between the bears and Ranger Smith. They didn’t take into account that the entire premise is ridiculous or how accurate Andrew Daly portrayed corrupt politician Mayor Brown. They cared only about how goofy Yogi and Boo Boo were going to be and if they were going to save Jellystone Park at the end.
Simply put, they enjoyed the fun things about the movie and weren’t hung up on the stuff that adults care about. So go into this film with an open mind and go into it knowing that if you don’t have young ones running around the household that there is a strong possibility you may not appreciate the dumb humor involved in the film. For example, when Yogi is preparing a picnic table as a food launcher and accidentally gets a pie in the face, you won’t like that as much as your kids. My kids couldn’t stop laughing and quite frankly that’s enough for me to say Yogi Bear worked for the audience it was intended for.
Let’s shift gears just slightly to a more critical view of the film; let’s talk acting. Dan Aykroyd did a commendable job as the lovable, non-threatening lead bear. Once in a while he would slip with his Yogi accent and fall into Dan Aykroyd, but nonetheless he did a great job of picking up the famous bear’s voice. After him, Justin Timberlake had me worried. I didn’t know if he could pull of the Boo Boo voice and act at the same time (it’s tough mimicking an icon like Boo Boo). Timberlake did a great job, much better than his performance in Social Network (he played himself in the film). He brought the humor and cuteness of the shorter cub and my kids loved him.
Now, as for the actual ‘humans’ in the film, it was nice to see Anna Faris playing a relaxed, more intelligent role as Rachel (Smith’s love interest and hardcore nature enthusiast). Opposite of Faris was Tom Cavanagh and his Ranger Smith role. I have always been a fan of Cavanagh, especially after his role in the television show Scrubs as J.D.’s brother. Cavanagh has a gentle personality that lends to Smith’s ever-patient attitude pretty darn well. T.J. Miller plays a wacky Ranger Jones and doesn’t get enough good roles in his life. The guy is funny and delivers his lines very well. Finally, Andrew Daly did a good job as the slimy Mayor Brown. Daly’s personality is clean cut and that works well for a politician such as Brown. The human cast did better than the animated ones, but together they were entertaining equally.
In conclusion, if you go into this film knowing that it’s not going to win an Academy Award for anything other than entertaining your kids (which should be an Academy Award category) then you’ll find some entertainment value out of this. My kids have already begged to watch this movie again, but I’m starving them a bit reviewing it.
As for the Blu-ray visuals and audio, they’re great, but not perfect. There’s a lot of nice scenery to see in this film and it shows pretty well in HD. There are moments, darker/shaded moments, where graininess rears its head. For example, when Mayor Brown pulls up in a park to talk to Ranger Jones the lighting for the scene is of the darker variety and Daly’s pale white skin shows a lot of grain (I’m not joking, it really does). As for the animated sequences with Boo Boo and Yogi, those actually look pretty good in HD. Animation is always unpredictable when it comes to the Blu-ray transfer and it’s nice to see this portion of the film look good. For the most part the film is lit well enough to cater to the HD format, but again it’s not the best picture I’ve seen. The audio quality is very high though for a kids film, as it’s mastered in 5.1 DTS-HD. When the ‘Big Butts’ song comes on you will appreciate the bass as your kids will find it hilarious (though they won’t appreciate the speaker configuration and result of the impending music). It’s good stuff overall, though.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
Blu-ray Combo Pack:
· Spending a Day at Jellystone Park
· Yogi Bear Mash-Up
· Are you Smarter than the average bear? Game
DVD:
· Jellystone Jewel: Litterbug
· Jellystone Jewel: Yogi’s Secret Hiding Spots
· Yogi Bear Mashup
Again, it’s geared towards the younger crowd in the household. On top of the fun features (kids will love the ‘Are you Smarter than the average bear? Game’), the Blu-ray also includes a wonderful Looney Tunes cartoon called Rabid Rider. While certainly not a Diamond Edition Disney release, Yogi Bear still sports some entertaining special features for the young ones in the household.