YOGI BEAR
US, 2010, 80 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake.
Anna Faris, Tom Cavanagh, T.J. Miller, Nathan Corddry, Andrew Daly.
Directed by Eric Brevig.
Yogi Bear is 50 years old this year. He first appeared in his television series in 1961, then a feature film in 1964, Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear. With revival of interest in the 1980s, a new series, and the some specials in the 1990s, he has been on screen for half a century. He has now reached the 3D era.
Actually, it’s all pretty much the same as usual – which means that it keeps its popular formula and ensures its audience of knowing what they are getting. This is especially so for the younger audiences (who were lining up at the press previews - where the critics were able to sit with a real audience of children and parents - to be photographed with Yogi, Boo Boo, or both).
Yogi Bear is an unlikely hero. He is not the smartest bear in the forest despite his hat and tie and his being able to talk. He is, perhaps, the vainest of bears, and his second name is not modesty. He is also food-obsessed, especially that found in picanic baskets, which he devises many ways of stealing from under the noses of unsuspecting picnickers. So, that provides a lot of the humour (including a pie in the face). He also builds a flying machine which is used for a special mission at the end of the film.
There is a need for a special mission since a corrupt mayor and his Machiavellian public relations assistant have concocted the idea of raising money (for campaigns and bribes) by selling of f Jellystone Park and re-zoning it. This to the dismay of Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) who is in the upright tradition of sturdy rangers, and of Rachel (Anna Farris, who has specialised in spoof movies, the Scary Movie series and The House Bunny) who is making a documentary about Jellystone, starring Yogi. There is also Ranger Smith (T.J. Miller) who makes Yogi look like an intellectual. Andrew Daly does the smilingly oily politician very effectively.
This part of the plot might keep parents interested while the children enjoy the slapstick.
Also involved is a frog mouthed turtle, an allegedly endangered species who provides the reason for keeping Jellystone as a park. So, plenty of environmental consciousness.
Dan Aykroyd obviously enjoyed voicing Yogi, but it is difficult to discern Justin Timberlake’s voice as Boo Boo.
Easy family entertainment.
1. Fifty years of the appeal of Yogi Bear? Boo Boo? The history, television series, films? This 21st century version? Keeping the elements of Yogi, Boo Boo, characters, adventures?
2. The visuals of Jellystone Park, the visual beauties of the national park? The rangers’ centre? The contrast with the city, the commercialisation, the politics?
3. The character of Yogi Bear, Dan Aykroyd’s voice? His appearance, weight? Hat and tie? His interest in food, the machine to get picnic baskets? The various adventures with stealing the food, the mistakes, pie in the face? The slapstick falls? His relationship with Boo Boo, relying on him? The flying invention? His interactions with the ranger, the ranger trying to control him? Rachel and her arrival, his enthusiasm for the film? The clashes with Ranger Jones? The episode of the turtle? The situation in the park, rescuing the turtle, flight, the various accidents? Landing in the raft? Everybody in the rapids, over the falls, stuck in the tree? His finally getting the turtle back? The defeat of the mayor? The happy ending – and his new machine for all the carriages taking all the food? The appeal of Yogi Bear, his vanity, yet being genial?
4. Boo Boo, small, in attendance to Yogi? Helping out, having to do all the work? The meals, the picnic baskets? The turtle? The flight? His helping in all the adventures?
5. Ranger Smith, in control of the park, growing up there? His interactions with Ranger Jones and Ranger Jones’s foolishness? The arrival of Rachel to make the film? His dealing with Yogi? The mayor, the attempt to close down the park, his asking for more time? Pleading, giving up? The turtle? The adventures with Rachel, trying to recover the turtle, in the raft, in the rapids? His putting the film on the screen? The downfall of the mayor? The happy ending with Rachel, with Yogi and Boo Boo?
6. Ranger Jones, foolish, his wanting to be the top ranger? His duties, stacking the maps? The encounter with the mayor, his helping him out? The folly? His having to change heart? Doing the right thing?
7. The mayor, his chief of staff? Absolutely unscrupulous? The money, the new suit, the chief of staff and his smooth talk? The campaigning? Looking for sources of money, Jellystone Park? Shutting it down? Confrontations with Ranger Smith? The discovery of the turtle, the chief of staff and all his attempts to get the turtle, the turtle’s escape? The press conference? His being filmed telling the truth? Ranger Smith putting the video on the screen, the downfall of the mayor, the chief of staff trying to escape?
8. Rachel, ingenuous, her time with the animals, making the documentary, interest in Yogi? Interest in Ranger Smith? Sharing in the adventures?
9. Adult audiences enjoying the plot and the downfall of the mayor? Younger audiences and their enjoying Yogi, Boo Boo, the voices, the jokes, the food, the pratfalls?
