In the trend to reboot every classic franchise, Dreamworks Animation has rebooted the classic shorts from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show called Mr. Peabody and Sherman. And yes, I do remember watching those classic shorts on Nickelodeon back in the day. Today, the only way to watch some of those shorts are mostly on YouTube. Here is the original cartoon showing how Mr. Peabody found and adopted Sherman.
In the movie, you do see how Mr. Peabody adopts Sherman, but Sherman is much smaller than in the original cartoon. Also, the movie depicts Mr. Peabody as a loving father to Sherman. In the original cartoon, Sherman is treated as an assistant. And the movie also includes the character of Penny, who at first is your average young girl who wants to be the most popular. Throughout the movie, Penny sees how much fun you can have using the WABAC machine and learning history. Later, Penny becomes friends with Mr. Peabody and Sherman and I totally see a love interest between Sherman and Penny. Two geeks/nerds falling in love, how sweet!
As for the two main characters, they did not stray too much from the original cartoon. Mr. Peabody is one very smart dog! But he is a dog, and at times, this comes to Sherman’s advantage. Like playing fetch with a ball or giving a belly rub to Mr. Peabody. And seeing Mr. Peabody having a hard time eating peanut butter since he is a dog. One thing the movie touched on was how Mr. Sherman was pretty much ignored and abandoned as a puppy. Some people have gone through things like this, and the movie gives these people a very good lesson, never give up! Mr. Peabody goes on to master business magnate, be a inventor, scientist, Nobel laureate, gourmand, musician, and two-time Olympic medalist. He is the smartest life form on the planet!
I thought Sherman was an adorable child. Sherman has the passion to learn everything and really loves his adopted father, even though he is a dog. Mr. Peabody goes on to teach Sherman all about history using a time machine called the WABAC, traveling to some of the most influential epochs of human history. But Sherman has to go to school, just like every child has to do. Sherman kind of showed off all the other students in that history class. And this made Penny upset, since Sherman was the new kid, Penny begins to bully him and even called Sherman a dog. And many geeks/nerds knows what it feels like to be bullied. But you also don’t see anyone doing this next, biting Penny.
Mr. Peabody is warned Sherman could be taken away if his home is not fit to raise a child. And after meeting Penny’s parents, Sherman wants to make up for biting Penny and to impress her. Sherman and Penny use the WABAC and goes to Ancient Egypt, Penny loves this place, and Mr. Peabody and Sherman have trouble convincing Penny to come back home, and not marrying King Tut only to be killed off, here is a clip of the moment.
You also get to see some great moments from Renaissance Florence where the duo meets Leonardo da Vinci to recharge the time machine. And Sherman and Penny tries Leonardo’s flying machine without permission, there’s a love interest brewing! After the WABAC gets around a black hole the machine crash lands in the Trojan War, and Sherman runs away to join the army of King Agamemnon. When Mr. Peabody and Penny come to retrieve him, they are swept into the final sacking of Troy as the Trojan Horse. This is important because Mr. Peabody tells Sherman before crashing that he is at risk of being taken away by Children’s Services. What would most kids do if they learn they could be taken away from their family? Yeah, mostly anyone would have run away and be upset like Sherman was.
The last parts of the movie features the group repairing the time-space continuum, all while Mr. Peabody’s home is declared unfit for Sherman, and animal control is called out to have Peabody destroyed as a dangerous animal, wow did things get out of hand quickly! You see two versions of Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and Mr. Peabody finally acting like a dog and biting the person trying to take away his adopted son. When everything is hitting the fan, you see a very sweet moment, where historical figures, Penny and her parents, and US Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Bill Clinton declares their support for Peabody’s legal custody of Sherman. After Sherman speaks up to support his adopted father.
The WABAC is used to repair the damage, and Mr. Peabody and Sherman are closer than ever in a happy life with Penny a close friend. And I totally see Sherman and Penny dating each other when they get to their teenager years, watch out Mr. Peabody, teenagers are totally different from young kids! The animation is great and up to par from classic Dreamworks animated films. The film is also extremely funny and filled with historical puns and fun facts. Kids will actually walk away from the film having learned one or two things about history, which is an added bonus. The movie earned around $32.5 million on its opening weekend, which is worrying because the movie costed around $140 million to make. I wonder if this movie would have done better if it was released later this year to not compete with The Lego Movie?
This movie will also pull the heartstrings of animal lovers everywhere! And for adopted families, this is a good movie to see! I hope Dreamworks will continue the Mr. Peabody and Sherman franchise. Maybe this franchise would do better on TV than in the movies. Because some people have commented that they felted like this movie was three 30 minute shows crammed into a movie. Hey, if How To Train Your Dragon can have a show on Cartoon Network, Mr. Peabody and Sherman can be on TV too! Next up for Dreamworks Animation is How To Train Your Dragon 2 coming out this Summer, I want to see that movie!
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