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Mr Peabody and Sherman is one of those films which beings with something a little different, this one featuring a nice subtle reworking of the Dreamworks logo, with Sherman sat in the moon.
I have to confess I am not at all familiar with the original cartoons – an offshoot from Rocky and Bullwinkle. While I remember them being on TV in the ’80s, despite one of those episodes featuring in the extras, I’m quite sure the BBC broadcasts didn’t last 23 minutes, so I expect they were cut down, as that would happen a lot – same as with the name-brand censorship which saw Top Cat renamed ‘Boss Cat’. Also, I often stay away from CGI films for kids as they usually seem to bereft of ideas and any sort of reason to exist, but this one seemed different. It also has the added attraction of time travel, something with which I’ve always been fascinated.
Mr Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell) is a talking dog, with Sherman (Max Charles) as his adopted son, and since Mr Peabody was rather an outcast in his youth, he spent his time boning (pun not intended) down to fill his head with knowledge, including how to build a time machine called the “WABAC” (pronouned “way back”)
Thankfully, it doesn’t dumb down into too much schmaltz, such as the exchange:
- Sherman: “I love you, Mr Peabody”
Mr Peabody: “I have a deep regard for you too, Sherman”
In a world where everyone has unfeasibly large heads, together, they use it to learn the lessons of history first-hand, taking in such sights (and times) as The French Revolution, Leonardo Da Vinci, the wooden horse of Troy and King Tutankhamun, the latter coming into play as, while Sherman’s a bit of a show-off in school, he ends up in trouble after classmate and nemesis Penny (Ariel Winter) torments him, then he responds by biting her, and at one point they all go back to Ancient Egypt where she’s about to marry said ‘Tut’.
I could see a great sequel or two coming out of this film, but with a budget of $145m, it didn’t make as much as hoped at the box-office, leading to DreamWorks Animation having to take a $57 million write-down on behalf of the film, so any further escapades are sadly unlikely.
There’s a lot of superb use of 3D in this film, such as when Peabody’s nose is almost sticking out of the screen, such is the effect, and an early underground surfing scene is a hell of a delight.
It’s taken a surprisingly long time for this title to come out on Blu-ray and DVD, but I guess they wanted to aim for the Christmas market, given the early October release date.
Any downsides? Well, one of the end credit songs, Kid, is sung by Peter Andre. I wonder if he picked up his copy of the 3D Blu-ray in Iceland?
Go to page 2 for a look at the presentation and the extras.
The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high definition and it looks absolutely stunning, perfectly showing off the wonderful world of the WABAC, and does full credit to the movie, especially on my Panasonic 50″ Plasma TV.
The sound is in DTS HD 7.1 and great use is made of the aural soundscape, with a lot of split-surround action.
The extras are as follows:
- Rocky and Bullwinkle & Friends: The premiere episode (22:53) and five excerpts with Mr Peabody and Sherman (25:48). These look quite fantastic, given their age.
- A Tour of the WABAC Machine (2:51): Mostly a snippet straight from the film, this is short but sweet. But too short.
- Time Travel: Mad Science (5:58): Two real physicists talk about time travel. Again, this featurette links in plenty of clips from the film.
- Mr Peabody and Sherman: A Journey WABAC (21:50): A more substantial extra, as Patrick Warburton (Agamemnon, and best known as wheelchair-bound Joe in Family Guy) taks you on a look through the inception of Peabody’s Improbable History, and where it went from there.
This feature contains chat with cast and crew members, all saying to where they’d take the WABAC. It also heads generally along the lines of a standard making-of.
- History’s Greatest Mystery: A Dog and his Boy (2:33): Very much like the first extra.
- Peaboy’s Paw Print on History (3:52): Footage of Mr Peabody putting his paws in cement.
- The WABAC Jigsaw Puzzle: This is good for kids and will keep them amused for a while. Four jigsaws, each being stills from the film, which can be put together. I didn’t go through all of them but they look to contain 28 pieces each.
- Time Travel Memory Match: A game of Pelmanism, with a board that looks a bit Blockbusters-like. But no Bob Holness, obviously.
- Gallery (2:03): 24 images.
- Theatrical trailer (2:26): In 16:9.
- Holiday favourites (5:34): You know that thing we call Christmas? The Americans call it the ‘Holiday Season’, and this is a series of trailers for Christmas-related offshoots like Shrek The Halls and Merry Madagascar.
- World of Dreamworks Animation: A few short pieces like Shrek’s Donkey singing “I’m a Believer”, and Magagascar’s “I Like To Move It”, and these tend to be excerpts, not the full thing, which seems rather a cheat.
There are subtitles and languages in a fair few apiece, all listed at the bottom of the review. Oddly, the box erroneously states English-only. This will put some people off if they don’t know, 20th Century Fox.
Chapters are a decent number, here, with 28 across the 92-minute running time.
The 3D Blu-ray version of Mr Peabody and Sherman, which I’ve reviewed here, is presented in a gorgeous embossed sleeve.
Mr Peabody and Sherman is available now on 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-ray and DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7 10 8 7 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 93 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video
Cat.no.: 5689715044
Year: 2014
Released: October 6th 2014
Chapters: 28
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS HD Master Audio 7.1, DTS* 5.1, Dolby Digital** 5.1
Languages: English (7.1), French*, Dutch*, German*, Italian*, Zho**(?), Croatian**, Cestian**, Slovakian**, Slovenian**
Subtitles: English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Zho(?), Croatian, Cestian, Slovakian, Slovenian
Widescreen: 1.85:1 (Digital 3-D)
Disc Format: 2*BD50
Director: Rob Minkoff
Producers: Denise Nolan Cascino and Alex Schwartz
Screenplay: Craig Wright (based on the series produced by Jay Ward)
Music: Danny Elfman
Cast :
Mr. Peabody: Ty Burrell
Sherman: Max Charles
Penny Peterson: Ariel Winter
Leonardo da Vinci: Stanley Tucci
Agamemnon: Patrick Warburton
Marie Antoinette/Egyptian Woman: Lauri Fraser
Robespierre: Guillaume Aretos
Ms. Grunion: Allison Janney
Teacher: Patrice A. Musick
Mason: Karan Brar
Carl: Josh Rush
Principal Purdy: Stephen Tobolowsky
Judge: Dennis Haysbert
Paul Peterson: Stephen Colbert
Patty Peterson: Leslie Mann
King Tut: Zach Callison
WABAC Machine: Leila Birch
Ay: Steve Valentine
Mona Lisa: Lake Bell
Odysseus: Tom McGrath
Albert Einstein: Mel Brooks
Baby Sherman: Jasper Johannes Andrews
Abraham Lincoln / George Washington / Bill Clinton / Isaac Newton / New York City Cop: Jess Harnell
Creepy Boy: Rob Minkoff
Sherman: Leonardo Della Bianca (uncredited)
Penny Peterson: Jenna Hukkinen (uncredited)
Penny Peterson: Luisa Wietzorek (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.
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