Jellystone Park has been losing business, so greedy Mayor Brown decides to shut it down and sell the land. That means families will no longer be able to experience the natural beauty of the outdoors -- and, even worse, Yogi and Boo Boo will be tossed out of the only home they've ever known. Faced with his biggest challenge ever, Yogi must prove that he really is "smarter than the average bear" as he and Boo Boo join forces with their old nemesis Ranger Smith to find a way to save Jellystone Park from closing forever.
Genres: Comedy, Kids/Family, Animation and Adaptation Running Time: 1 hr. 22 min. Release Date: December 17th, 2010 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG for Some mild rude humor. Distributor: aaaa
Cast And Credits
Starring:
Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake, Christine Taylor, Tom Cavanagh, Anna Faris
Directed by:
Eric Brevig
Produced by:
Andrew Haas, Donald De Line, James R. Dyer (II), Lee Berger
There’s exactly one thing about the misbegotten big-screen “Yogi Bear” that might make you think back with any fondness to the Hanna-Barbera cartoons on which it’s based. That would be Justin Timberlake’s charming. performance as the voice of Boo-Boo Bear, a fitting tribute to the original Boo Boo, Don Messick (who also voiced Scooby-Doo and the Jetsons’ dog, Astro).
Otherwise this mostly live-action film is a bland 21st-century family comedy without a single moment that captures the wit, energy or sophistication of the original, which by now dates back more than 50 years. After some early picnic-basket stealing, the story expands into a battle to save Jellystone Park from loggers and corrupt politicians, with a romantic subplot involving Ranger Smith and a cute documentary maker.
We’ve seen this kind of talking-animal ecological parable quite a few times already, and this one is so generic, it wouldn’t pass muster on Saturday-morning television.
Dan Aykroyd gives a glum and largely personality-free reading of Yogi, while the human actors who signed on to fill the space around the computer-animated bears — including Tom Cavanagh as Ranger Smith, Anna Faris as the environmentally minded filmmaker and Andrew Daly as the nasty mayor — are pretty much helpless.
It’s especially painful to watch Ms. Faris, so perversely funny in films like “Smiley Face” and “The House Bunny,” reduced to big smiles and false heartiness.
The director, Eric Brevig, is a visual-effects specialist, and he and his crew have done an excellent job of integrating their animated bears into some majestic scenery (filmed in New Zealand).
Yogi Bear” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested) for jokes about marking territory and scratching backsides.
There’s exactly one thing about the misbegotten big-screen “Yogi Bear” that might make you think back with any fondness to the Hanna-Barbera cartoons on which it’s based. That would be Justin Timberlake’s charming. performance as the voice of Boo-Boo Bear, a fitting tribute to the original Boo Boo, Don Messick (who also voiced Scooby-Doo and the Jetsons’ dog, Astro). 
We’ve seen this kind of talking-animal ecological parable quite a few times already, and this one is so generic, it wouldn’t pass muster on Saturday-morning television. 
The director, Eric Brevig, is a visual-effects specialist, and he and his crew have done an excellent job of integrating their animated bears into some majestic scenery (filmed in New Zealand).
