Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!
DVD cover
Directed by	Norton Virgien
Produced by	Ron Howard Brian Grazer Share Stallings
Screenplay by	Chuck Tately
Starring	Frank Welker Jeff Bennett Fred Tatasciore Ed O'Ross Tim Curry Matt Lauer Amy Hill Clint Howard Jeff McNeal Nickie Bryar Carlos Alazraqui Cree Summer Jerry Lewis Phill LaMarr Jamie Kennedy
Studio	Imagine Entertainment Toon City Animation Universal Animation Studios
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	March 2, 2010 (2010-03-02)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! is a traditionally-animated film adaptation of the children's stories by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey. It is a sequel to the successful 2006 film Curious George. It was originally titled Curious George: Monkey on the Run.

Plot

The movie starts with George (Frank Welker) swinging around town, and he picks up the newspaper. He reads it when he gets home and finds out that the great wizard Piccadilly (Tim Curry) is holding an act with an elephant called Kayla. It sounds interesting to George so he wakes up Ted (Jeff Bennett), and he tries to show Ted the news, but Ted is late for a meeting with Mr. Bloomsberry.

When Ted gets to the museum he prepares reasons as to why he would be a good candidate to take over the museum for Mr. Bloomsberry who is retiring. Mr. Bloomsberry however, says that Ted is the only candidate available because he couldn't imagine leaving not even Junior (the main antagonist from the first film) to own the museum. The only stipulation is Ted has to write a presentation on what his vision of what the museum would look like; to be delivered in one week, to the "Board of Directors". However Ted is scared of the "Board of Directors".

As Ted is in his office writing his charts, Maggie tells him that his family needs more attention, her, George, etc. George comes in and tries to show Ted the poster with Kayla (indicating Piccadilly's act). Ted says he understands what Maggie is saying and decided to take George to the magic show. During one of Piccadilly's magic tricks, Kayla disappears, and George goes looking for her. He finds Kayla in the basement of the theatre, starts playing with her and they stumble upon the exit for the building. Piccadilly comes in and can't find Kayla so he calls for security, the head of which is Danno Wolfe (Jamie Kennedy) and Mrs. Fisher. Danno questions Ted and gets curious about him and George. Meanwhile, George and Kayla make their way to Ted's apartment where they see news coverage of Kayla's original home in California.

Ted returns home to find George and Kayla in their apartment. He decides to return to the theatre with George and Kayla but along the way loses them when George sees a train advertisement for the "California Express". Ted reaches them at the train, but can't get them out of the boxcar before it leaves the station. They are headed west and Ted gets nervous when the train doesn't even stop in St. Louis and his cell phone's battery has died. Meanwhile, a cryptic message from a "Chinese monkey" and Danno's suspicions lead him to believe that George and Ted have kidnapped the elephant. He begins attempting to find them.

With George and Kayla's help, Ted gets the door of the boxcar open but ends up falling out while George and Kayla remain on the train. Ted makes his way to a small train station with a stationmaster (Jerry Lewis), and has him charge the cell phone (which broke while he fell). Ted uses what little change he has to call Piccadilly, but doesn't manage to complete the call which makes Danno even more certain that Ted and George have kidnapped Kayla. Ted uses the stationmaster's motorcycle to catch up with George and Kayla, and reboards the train. He leaves his cell phone in Humbleton with the stationmaster who uses the phone to tell Piccadilly that Kayla is okay. However, the phone breaks and allows Mrs. Fisher to trace where Ted made his call and allows Danno to find his way the Humbleton station.

Ted, George, and Kayla continue on the train for the next stop in Grand Junction with Danno on their heels. The movement of Kayla, however, causes the boxcar to separate from the rest of the train, and they head away from the rest of the train. It finally stops, and they get off in search of a road to find help. A man in a flatbed truck stops, and picks them up. Ted thinks they are going east, but they continue to travel west once again. Meanwhile, Piccadilly is interviewed by Hark Hanson (Matt Lauer), and he reveals pictures of George and Ted as the kidnappers of Kayla. Ted wakes up after a night's sleep in the back of the truck, and realizes they have been heading the wrong way. He gets them off the truck and attempts to head back east again.

They come across a farmer named Dan, and his child named Anna. Ted picks up the newspaper, and finds out New York thinks they're kidnappers. He also reads about Kayla's family. Ted wants to return Kayla to Piccadlly, but George and Anna disagree. The next morning, Ted changes his mind and leaves for Kayla's home. However, Danno has followed them and attempts to capture Kayla, but they escape using a hollowed out school bus, and finally make their way to the park where Kayla's family are happy to see her. Danno shows up again, and arrests George and Ted, and captures Kayla. They fly back to the city, but after George gets the handcuff keys from Danno, Ted, George and Kayla escape by jumping out of the plane. They make it back to Piccadilly and everything is fine, except that Danno Wolf has followed them. George and Ted eventually defeat him.

George and Maggie watch Ted give his report to the "Board of Directors". George comes in the room, and Ted then states that friends are more important than work.

Reception

It has a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features the hit "California Sun" performed by Brian Wilson as well as all new songs by Carbon Leaf, a special title track recorded by 429 Records' artist Jackie Greene and an original score by Heitor Pereira. The soundtrack was released on March 2, 2010.^[1]

Tracklisting

1. "Life Less Ordinary" - Carbon Leaf
2. "The Friendship" - Carbon Leaf
3. "California Sun" - Brian Wilson
4. "On A Roll" - Carbon Leaf
5. "Heart Of The Day" - Carbon Leaf
6. "Let Your Troubles Roll By" - Carbon Leaf
7. "Walking In The Sun" - Carbon Leaf
8. "Follow That Monkey" - Jackie Greene
9. "Moon Man" - Heitor Pereira
10. "Going East" - Heitor Pereira
11. "Giving A Hand" - Heitor Pereira
12. "Zoo" - Heitor Pereira
13. "Friendship" - Heitor Pereira

Cast

• Frank Welker as George
• Jeff Bennett as Ted (The Man With the Yellow Hat)
• Fred Tatasciore as Mr. Bloomsberry
• Tim Curry as Piccadilly
• Jamie Kennedy as Danno Wolf
• Matt Lauer as Hark Hanson
• Jerry Lewis as the Humbleton Stationmaster
• Cree Summer as Mrs. Fisher

Release

The film was released in the US on March 2, 2010 as a direct-to-DVD release.^[2] It was broadcast on PBS as a special for a few days around Thanksgiving 2010.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Savoy Label Group to Release 'Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey' Soundtrack --Soundtrack Features Brian Wilson, Jackie Greene and Carbon Leaf --In Stores on Denon Records March 2nd". Denon. PR Newswire. 2010-01-13. http://www.cnbc.com/id/34837827. Retrieved 2010-01-21. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Epstein, Ronald (2010-01-12). "USHE Press Release: Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey". Ronald J Epstein. Home Theater Forum. http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/296989/ushe-press-release-curious-george-2-follow-that-monkey#post_3648725. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 
3. ^ http://www.pbs.org/about/news/archive/2010/curiousgeorge2-tv-debut/

External links

• Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! at the Internet Movie Database
• Curious George 2 at The-Numbers.com
• Information on Curious George