I remember watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman as part of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. The thing about both of these cartoons is that they are layered in subtext and have a whole lot of jokes that go over kids' heads that adults can enjoy. This movie had some of that, but there wasn't much. They relied on puns for laughs more than anything else.
The story is nonsensical and irrelevant. I mean, we're starting with a genius dog who adopted a boy and also invented a time machine. Suffice to say that some people have a problem with a dog as a parent, there are issues at school, and the hijinks ensue when Sherman and his female companion take the time machine for a quick spin. I'm not sure I recognized any of the voices other than Stephen Colbert as Sherman's female friend's father and Patrick Warburton as a Greek soldier.
The odd thing is that they seem like they are trying to teach actual history at times, and they are pretty clearly making stuff up or perpetuating myths at other times. I'm not sure what the angle was supposed to be, and I can't remember what the original cartoon did with these kinds of things. I'm not sure that it's relevant, though. The movie was built for fast action and adventure with a hint of comedy, and it hit on all cylinders.
The animation in these movies is kind of second nature at this point, isn't it? All the algorithms are already built, and you just need to plug in a newly designed head or some other significant personal trait to make the person look different from the rest. With Mr. Peabody, it may have been slightly different, what with him being a dog, but I don't think it was different enough. I remember his body language from the cartoon, and I'm not sure they hit it completely on the head.
All told, this is an enjoyable enough romp, but it wears pretty quickly. I remember seeing some other animated movies and thinking that they should have been longer, but if this is the way the movies go, it might be best that they are a little too short. A little too long is a lot too long.
Direction was good
Acting was good
Story was out there
Dialog was okay
Animation was good
2.5/5