Stephen Colbert voices the surly character Paul Peterson in Mr. Peabody and Sherman, the new animated reworking of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show characters. Invited to the dog and his adopted human son’s home for dinner, Peterson is having none of this erudite mutt’s shenanigans. Peterson’s s daughter Penny bullied Sherman into actually biting her in school after she unconscionably called him, too, a dog. Sherman no more looks like a dog than Gomer Pyle and Penny’s as evil as Ted Cruz, but Peterson’s got a point in raising suspicions over this Peabody character. He’s all bark and way too bright.
No matter the impossible situation or the physical peril, Peabody has an algorithm, a formula, or a recalculation to fix things. Since this is a movie about time travel, his fix-its involve pharaohs in ancient Egypt, Agamemnon of Trojan Horse fame, Marie Antoinette and Leonardo DaVinci. Just in case modern figures feel left out, Bill Clinton makes an appearance and there’s a Monica Lewinsky joke. While the joke fits in with the rest of the film’s puns and quips, my 8-year-old charge was thankfully clueless on that one. The little guy did enjoy all the scatological stuff, though. Juxtaposed with an inordinate emphasis on derrières, director Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little) and screenwriter Craig Wright (Six Feet Under) are also caught up in spouting Family Issue Statements–a breach from the strictly-for-laughs original TV series. Peabody shrinks from using the word “love” when expressing his emotions to Sherman, preferring the chilly “have a high regard for.” While Peabody’s learning his lessons on affection, Sherman deals with his repressed resentments…Then it’s time for a fart joke.
Peabody must defend his right to keep possession of Sherman when outlandish schoolmarm-from-hell-Muss Grunion (Allison Janney) starts proceedings to take Sherman away. Since it’s probably not a spoiler to divulge that a children’s movie ends happily, she not only doesn’t succeed but she ends up strange bedfellows with of all people, the earthy enforcer, Agamemnon, who has a nasty case of B. O. A curious pairing but not any stranger than Peabody and Sherman themselves.
Sherman learns the lessons of true parental love but it’s almost an afterthought amidst the piling on of the incessant in-jokes and wisecracks, many of which fall to the ground rather than stick. Similarly 3D action sequences steal away from the more emotional moments, none of which occurred in the original Mr Peabody series anyway. In short, the film’s mishmash tone overrides its occasionally amusing scenes.
Naturally, my 8-year-old strongly disagrees. He’ll have to wait a couple of years for me to impress him with About Time, a far more satisfying time travel film. He’s already hip to the best “mad science” series of all-time: Beakman’s World. Next to Beakman, Peabody’s a smug know-it-all.