With cabin fever striking families at this time of year, taking the kids to see an entertaining movie may just be the remedy.
One of the better family films in theaters right now is Dreamworks’ latest animated feature “Mr. Peabody and Sherman”. Based on the cartoon featured in the “Rocky & Bullwinkle” show of years past, the movie starts with us learning how Mr. Peabody, a very high-functioning canine, came to adopt a human boy named Sherman.
Unlike the TV show, the characters portray a more father-son relationship than a pet owner-dog relationship. Family conflict arises when Sherman gets in trouble at school for biting a bully (Penny), and Mr. Peabody’s parental custody of Sherman is threatened by school authorities.
In an attempt to woo Penny’s parents into not pressing charges, Sherman’s owner opens his home to Penny and her folks for a night of dinner and entertainment. The evening turns out to be much more adventurous than expected when Penny discovers a time machine called the WABAC. Against his owner’s wishes, Sherman ends up sending Penny to ancient Egypt. When father and son travel there to rescue her, they discover she is about to become King Tut’s bride.
The three escape to visit Leonardo da Vinci, who is struggling to get Mona Lisa to smile for his infamous painting. After getting da Vinci’s assistance with fixing the WABAC, the trio set off for ancient Greece just in time to be a part of the Trojan War.
Throughout their adventures, Penny and Sherman become friends and Mr. Peabody becomes more and more frustrated with Sherman. This is quite reflected when the dog disappears during the Trojan War. Sherman attempts to rectify the situation by traveling back to the point before he sent Penny off to Egypt. A lot ensues when Mr. Peabody discovers Sherman and Penny dressed in Greek clothing and realizes that their future selves are in trouble if they clash with their present selves.
The ending scene envelops all the historical figures that have crossed the path of the time travelers: everyone from Marie Antoinette to Bill Clinton, who adds a bit of adult humor with his reference to his playboy White House years. Everyone has arrived due to the malfunction of the WABAC and its effect on time continuum. Just as Sherman’s owner is about to be taken away by the dog catcher, Sherman saves the day by announcing to the crowd that if Mr. Peabody is a dog, he is also a dog. This sparks the visiting historical characters to chime in and the result is a sudden fix of the time issue, sending everyone back to the eras they came from.