Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Disney's latest animated comedy apes familiar territory
Rated G;
Not that the newer film is a copy. It takes years to make even a passable animated movie. "The Wild" was on the drawing board before anyone saw "Madagascar." Still, you have to wonder how many Hollywood filmmakers water their horses at the same saloon.
In "The Wild," which begins at a New York City zoo, lion cub Ryan (voiced by Greg Cipes) has a minor quarrel with his dad Samson (Kiefer Sutherland) and sulks off to spend the night alone in a large green locker.
Before you can say, "Told you," the locker is locked, spirited off to Staten Island and shipped to Africa.
Samson follows in a ferry -- a ferry to Africa? -- with his companions, the squirrel Benny (James Belushi), the giraffe Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), the koala bear Nigel (Eddie Izzard) and the anaconda Larry (Richard Kind).
But first they pass by a lot of product placement, including repeated plugs for Disney stuff.
In Africa, they must contend with wildebeests such as Kazar (William Shatner) and Blag (Patrick Warburton), who attack the other animals as part of a new prey-to-predator program.
Somewhere in here are messages about just being yourself and giving it your best roar.
"The Wild" is smoothly animated, serviceable as a Disney cash cow and as nourishing as the whipped cream propping up the maraschino cherry on a hot fudge sundae.
