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Studio:Warner Home Video

Director:Eric Brevig

Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris

Running Time:80 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review

There’s nothing radical in the way that all concerned have approached the big screen debut of Yogi Bear. Following the trend for mixing live action and animated characters, in the manner that helped propel the Alvin and the Chipmunks films to box office gold, we get a computer generated Yogi and Boo-Boo here, mixing in with the human inhabitants of Jellystone Park.

It’s all fairly harmless stuff, too. The plot is some hokum device about having to save the park, while there’s also Anna Faris’ filmmaker who pops up on the hunt for the title character. Yet Yogi Bear’s ambitions lie in being a palatable, perfectly entertaining piece of family fodder.

And it manages that. Granted, Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake struggle on voicing duties, while there’s barely a trace of ambition to be found in the film itself. Yet Yogi Bear is quietly entertaining, not shy of a few laughs, and wise enough to not outstay its welcome. The 3D effect is fun, too, helped by the mix of live action and animation. And while it doesn’t quite bring the park to your living room, it does have a mighty good try.

Unsurprisingly, a sequel to Yogi Bear is on the way. On the basis of this first effort, that might not be a bad thing. --Jon Foster

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