Yogi Bear

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Yogi may be smarter than the ave-erage bear, but he certainly isn't the most original. Not that it stops the first live action Yogi Bear movie from trying.

The classic Hanna Barberra cartoon comes to life as Jellystone Park faces extinction thanks to a severe loss in business. Smelling potential cash like Yogi does PB & J sandwiches, the greedy Mayor Brown decides to shut down Jellystone and sell the land. 

Yep, it seems families will no longer be able to experience the natural beauty of the outdoors - but, even worse, our old pals Yogi (Dan Akroyd) and Boo Boo (Justin Timberlake) will be tossed out of the only home they have ever known.

Faced with their biggest challenge ever, Yogi and Boo Boo join forces with their old nemesis Ranger Smith (Ed's Tom Cavanaugh) to find a way to save Jellystone Park from closing forever.

While hardly a classic, Yogi Bear is a step in the right direction for retro-character reboots on the big screen. The biggest failings in the past of the likes of Rocky & Bullwinkle and even Looney Tunes : Back In Action is the constant self referencing, it takes the audience out of the story - never quite allowing them to believe in the credibility or connect to the environment.

Thankfully, Yogi Bear doesn't fall into this trap. While, admittedly, delivering a pretty stock-standard tale (one that deserves to reside on the DVD shelf), it never winks at the camera more than it should. The jokes are lame, but perfect for the age group.

It's fun and silly and incredibly simple, which is all young kids really need to distract them.

As for the 3D...

Audiences (and, in particular, parents having to support a family of toddlers) are quickly realising that most films don't need 3D. There are very, very few cases where it makes much of a difference at all. Sadly, for the money managers behind the $80M budgeted Yogi Bear, this flick more than serves it's purpose on a $20 DVD (rather than a $70 bill for a family at the cinemas).

Thats said, if it's a family day out at the films with very young kids - you can't really go wrong with this (much moreso than the older age geared Gulliver's Travels).

At the very least, Yogi Bear is nowhere near as brain meltingly annoying as those damned Alvin & The Chipmunks movies.

DVD Special Features

Despite some fairly average reviews and a slow start at the Box Office (compared to the Alvin and the Chipmunks juggernaut) Yogi Bear turned out to be something of a smash hit taking over $200M worldwide. So we can all safely expect a sequel (esepcially considering how much merch flew out the doors).

The DVD will no doubt be on high rotation in many households from now on, so luckily there are a few special features to make it all worth while.

There is the featurette "Spending A Day at Jellystone Park" and "Yogi Bear Mash-Up", the truly excellent Looney Tunes Short "Rabid Rider" (welcome back Looney Tunes!) and the fun "Are You Smarter Than The Average Bear?" interactive game.

Worthwhile purchase if you've got kids whining behind you.

Conclusion - Movie: 65% Extras: 70%