Ted (voiced by Will Ferrell) is a very serious young man who works as the curator at the Oswald J. Bloomsberry Natural History Museum. When Miss Maggie Dunlop (voiced by Drew Barrymore) brings her class to the museum on a field trip, Ted instructs them to observe — not to play. Miss Maggie has taken a fancy to Ted and would like to get to know him better, but he is oblivious to her advances.
Ted’s safe world is put in jeopardy when Bloomsberry (voiced by Dick Van Dyke) informs him that because of low attendance and no sales in the gift shop, the museum may be forced to close. Bloomsberry's son (voiced by David Cross) has already devised a plan to tear the museum down and erect a parking lot in its place. Scrambling to find a way to keep the museum alive, Ted suggests that a new exhibit might save the museum. Bloomsberry has an unfulfilled dream of his younger days of finding a lost monkey shrine in Africa. Thinking that treasure would make the perfect interest-generating exhibit, the old man sends Ted on a safari.
In Africa, Ted succeeds in finding the treasure — but it’s not exactly what he thought it would be. In addition, most of his time is taken up by an encounter with Curious George (voiced by Frank Walker), a playful little monkey who swoops down from a tree and takes his yellow hat. The frolicsome little animal then engages Ted in a game of peekaboo.
Ted returns home empty handed, feeling that all is lost. This feeling is not exactly relieved when he discovers that Curious George has stowed away on his ship and followed him to New York. For the little monkey, the city turns out to be an even larger and more interesting playground that the jungle. But Ted has other things on his mind — such as saving face in front of Bloomsberry, who has been busily promoting the upcoming exhibit of the lost shrine.
Curious George is directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and based on books by Margaret and H. A. Rey. Small children will enjoy the antics of the very active monkey, who has fun getting paint all over a penthouse, camping in the park, taking a thrilling balloon ride over the city, and helping his new friend find a way out of his troubles at the museum. The message of this dandy cartoon is not for kids but for adults: Play and let yourself go. That's the way to discover all the wild possibilities life has to offer!
Special DVD features include a Jack Johnson music video with sing-along feature; 15 deleted scenes — even more monkey business; featurette: Monkey Around with Words; featurette: Drawn to George — learn to draw your favorite monkey; featurette: Monkey In Motion — see how an animation artist makes George come alive; and over 10 interactive games and activities.
