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"YOGI BEAR"
(2010) (voices of Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake) (PG)


Alcohol/Drugs None
Blood/Gross Stuff Mild
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude Heavy
Frightening/Tense Scenes Moderate
Gun/Weapons Minor
Imitative Behavior Heavy
Jump Scenes None
Music (Scary/Tense) Moderate
Music (Inappropriate) Mild
Profanity None
Sex/Nudity Mild
Smoking None
Tense Family Scenes  None
Topics to Talk About Moderate
Violence Mild


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: A park ranger must contend with a corrupt mayor trying to close down his park, all while dealing with a mischievous talking bear who's most interested in stealing visitors' picnic baskets.
PLOT:
Jellystone Park is 100 years old, but due to other distractions in today's world, it doesn't draw visitors like it used to and has now lost money 10 years straight. Even so, Ranger Smith (TOM CAVANAGH), who grew up there, and Ranger Jones (T.J. MILLER), his younger, overeager subordinate, still go about their daily duties. That includes keeping an eye on Jellystone's most famous inhabitant, Yogi Bear (voice of DAN AYKROYD). He's a necktie-wearing, talking bear with an insatiable appetite, who's always coming up with new schemes to steal visitors' picnic baskets, much to the dismay of his much smaller and far more reserved sidekick, Boo Boo (voice of JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE).

Yogi's reputation has drawn the attention of documentary filmmaker Rachel (ANNA FARIS) who wants to do a film about him. Ranger Smith has no problem with that, especially considering that he's become instantly smitten with her. But he does have a problem and that's Mayor Brown (ANDREW DALY) and his Chief of Staff (NATHAN CORDDRY) who've decided that since their city is out of money, selling logging rights to the park could generate additional revenue and possibly ensure Brown's victory in the upcoming governor's race.

Ranger Smith is obviously against the closure of the park, but finds he can only keep it open if he can make $30,000 in a week. With time running out, he tries to come up with a way to do that, but must contend not only with the chief of staff trying to undermine him, Ranger Jones wanting his job, and his attraction to Rachel, but also Yogi whose antics threaten to undermine his efforts.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Younger kids who like live-action movies featuring computer-animated talking animals will probably be interested.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG
For some mild rude humor.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • YOGI BEAR is an intelligent if self-centered, talking bear who lives in Jellystone Park with his sidekick Boo Boo. He generally gets along well with Ranger Smith except when he's always scheming up ways to steal park visitors' picnic baskets (due to his insatiable appetite). His eagerness and confidence usually end up getting in his or Ranger Smith's ways.
  • BOO BOO is his smaller and far more reserved sidekick who's always questioning Yogi and his plans.
  • TOM CAVANAGH plays the head ranger in the park who's lived and worked there his entire life. He must put up with daily irritations (such as Ranger Jones being overeager in his job and Yogi doing his usual antics), but he finds a greater problem in Mayor Brown's decision to close the park. While dealing with that, he also finds himself smitten with Rachel.
  • T.J. MILLER plays his subordinate and only other ranger in the park, a slightly dimwitted young man who wants his boss' job and doesn't have the patience for waiting or having to do menial tasks.
  • ANNA FARIS plays a documentary filmmaker who shows up wanting to do a film on Yogi. Once she learns of the park's predicament, she does what she can to help Ranger Smith.
  • ANDREW DALY plays the corrupt city mayor who decides to close Jellystone Park and sell off logging rights, all to make money for the city, himself and his constituents, hoping to bribe the latter into voting for him as the next governor.
  • NATHAN CORDDRY plays his chief of staff who does most of his dirty work and tries to undermine Ranger Smith's goal of raising enough money to keep the park open.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a quick look at the content found in this PG-rated comedy. There's no profanity, but some colorful phrases are uttered. There's a brief kiss and some talking about courting rituals, while a song has some inappropriate lyrics.

    Slapstick style violence is present, as are some adventurous and perilous moments that might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to the youngest of viewers. Some behavior might be enticing to imitate, while bad attitudes are present, as are various instances of crude humor.

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

    For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, some of the flying scenes (especially when seen in 3D) might cause that reaction.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • None.
  • BLOOD/GROSS STUFF
  • Yogi asks Ranger Smith if the latter is feverish and tries to press his lips to the man's forehead. Yogi then says that's better than where you have to take his temperature.
  • To cover up his nervousness and fumbling around her, Ranger Smith states he probably ingested a certain weed (non-narcotic), with him and Rachel simultaneously saying the symptoms are delirium, cramps and nausea.
  • Ranger Smith asks Rachel what the ink was made out of that she used to write on a piece of bark and she replies it's bird poop and spit.
  • After Rachel makes a bear sound, Yogi jokes that Boo Boo only makes that sound after eating beans. He then adds that for such a little fellow, Boo Boo "makes a lot of stink."
  • Yogi takes Ranger Smith aside, says he realizes Ranger Smith is interested in Rachel, but adds that Ranger Smith's courting rituals need work. He then tells him to urinate on her to mark her as his territory (he doesn't).
  • Boo Boo's pet turtle belches.
  • Ranger Smith tells Mayor Brown that he saved him a spot next to the porta-potty for the park's celebration.
  • Yogi hesitantly eats a grub, but it then comes out of his nose like a giant booger, and then is sucked back in and blown out the other nostril.
  • Boo Boo's pet turtle keeps flicking its long tongue out like a frog, and it lands in Yogi's mouth.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Due to his insatiable appetite, Yogi always wants to steal visitors' picnic baskets for the food inside.
  • Mayor Brown wants to rezone Jellystone Park to an agricultural reserve so that he can grant logging rights, and thus earn enough to pay every voter $1,000 in hopes of buying their vote to elect him the next governor.
  • Mayor Brown delights in informing Ranger Smith that he's going to close the park in one week.
  • Ranger Smith learns that Yogi stole the soda vending machine, and later learns that Yogi has taken all of the money from the park's donation box.
  • Rachel admits that she changed letters in an advertising plane's trailing banner to promote the park's fireworks shows (and thus stole the ad time/space from someone else).
  • Mayor Brown wants to undermine the park's fireworks celebration to keep them making enough money to meet their budget, and tries to persuade Ranger Jones to sabotage the event. Ranger Jones initially doesn't want to, but realizing it will take a long time before he otherwise gets Ranger Smith's job, he convinces Yogi to make a spectacle of himself (knowing that will ruin the event).
  • Mayor Brown is constantly demeaning to and disrespectful of Ranger Smith.
  • Mayor Brown refers to Ranger Jones as "ding-dong."
  • Defying a federal law about endangered species, Mayor Brown says he doesn't care about the law, but instead cares about power (his).
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Yogi does various stunts while water skiing, including tossing a flaming baton (lit on both ends). He doesn't realize that his cape has caught fire, and Boo Boo nearly drives the lead boat into the fireworks stand on which Ranger Smith and Rachel are standing. Yogi flies over the stand, but his baton comes down and Ranger Smith catches it just in time. But he doesn't see the still lit cape float down and then set off the fireworks. He and Rachel jump into the water as the fireworks shoot everywhere, including into the crowd on the shore. Those people then panic and flee, with some running over Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff (he's fine beyond being a little dirty). This scene is played lightly and mostly for comedy, but could be unsettling for some younger viewers.
  • Yogi and Boo Boo purposefully fly off a cliff down toward the park in a bear-powered glider. Not long into flight, the landing gear falls off. They then fly through trees with various close calls, followed by Yogi leaping from the glider down toward a picnic basket (holding an endangered turtle) before Boo Boo had a chance to attach a cable to him. Boo Boo then jumps after him and attaches the cable just in time, with that then recoiling up to the glider, landing both of them safely in it. But then the top wing comes off and they plummet back toward earth, with Yogi deploying a life raft that inflates in air and both land safely in the river below them.
  • Ranger Smith and Rachel then try to pull them to safety from the river bank, but instead are yanked into the raft. They then go through lots of white water and rapids. Once through that, they go over a very tall waterfall, but end up landing on some tree branches before hitting the water, and they scurry to safety.
  • Ranger Smith, Rachel and Yogi toss an endangered turtle about to keep it from Mayor Brown's goons, but Yogi isn't thinking when he throws it directly into Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff's hands (he then rushes off with it).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • When Rachel asks Yogi and Boo Boo if they mind "if I shoot you," Yogi runs for cover until he's told she meant with a camera.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Pic-a-nic," "I'm smarter than your average bear," "I'm so smart it hurts," "Put a kink in your think," "Are you feverish?" "I can handle you for that," "What the heck was that?" "He makes a lot of stink," "Your courting rituals need work," "May be delicious on the lips but they're a lifetime on the hips," "We're going to break the picnic barrier," "Basket nabber 2000," "Thought cooker," "My melon is full of smart juice," "Dang it," "Lame-A-Ganza," "Screwing up," "Ding-dong," "My brain is out of business," "You don't want me to go gorilla on you," "I'm like a genus without a phylum," "Dang it" and "You pin-heads."
  • Yogi rides a zip line down toward the ground where he snatches a picnic basket from a table, but ends up going around a tree branch and then lands hard on the ground (played for laughs).
  • Yogi asks Ranger Smith if the latter is feverish and tries to press his lips to the man's forehead. Yogi then says that's better than where you have to take his temperature.
  • Yogi tries to lower a magnet to lift Ranger Smith's lunch box, but he ends up falling off the cabin roof (we don't see the impact).
  • Boo Boo's pet turtle belches.
  • Yogi does a spit-take with soda.
  • Yogi shakes his furry rear to the first few lines of the song "I Like Big Butts."
  • Yogi tells Boo Boo to cuff him (Yogi) to a tree and then not let him go. Boo Boo does that, prompting Yogi to try everything to free himself. He eventually does, but the bent tree snaps back and whacks Yogi.
  • Boo Boo walks Yogi along by pulling on his ear.
  • Yogi and Boo Boo run and then jump onto a moving train.
  • Yogi and Boo Boo ride down a hilly street in a grocery cart.
  • Rachel grabs Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff by his tie to get her point across.
  • Ranger Smith, Rachel and Yogi toss an endangered turtle about to keep it from Mayor Brown's goons, but Yogi isn't thinking when he throws it directly into Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff's hands (he then rushes off with it).
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A moderate amount of suspenseful and heavily dramatic music occurs in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Yogi shakes his furry rear to the first few lines of the song "I Like Big Butts" that includes the lyrics "I like big butts and I cannot lie. You other brothers can't deny. That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face..."
  • PROFANITY
  • None.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Rachel shows up, wanting to shoot a documentary in the park. Flummoxed by her, Ranger Smith says, "I can handle you for that" (rather than "I can handle that for you").
  • Yogi takes Ranger Smith aside, says he realizes Ranger Smith is interested in Rachel, but adds that Ranger Smith's courting rituals need work. He then tells him to urinate on her to mark her as his territory (he doesn't).
  • Rachel states that you'll have a friend for life if you scratch an animal's backside, but that you'll be called the weird girl on the bus if you do that to people.
  • Yogi shakes his furry rear to the first few lines of the song "I Like Big Butts" that includes the lyrics "I like big butts and I cannot lie. You other brothers can't deny. That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face..."
  • Rachel shows a little cleavage.
  • Rachel says she'll be documenting the courting rituals of the park ranger (meaning Ranger Smith). Ranger Smith then tries to kiss her, but the brim of his hat hits her on the forehead. He then takes off the hat and they briefly kiss.
  • SMOKING
  • None.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • None.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Mayor Brown wants to rezone Jellystone Park to an agricultural reserve so that he can grant logging rights, and thus earn enough to pay every voter $1,000 in hopes of buying their vote to elect him the next governor.
  • Endangered species and what that means for the lands in which they're found.
  • Dealing with bears in the wild.
  • Appreciating wilderness parks.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Yogi rides a zip line down toward the ground where he snatches a picnic basket from a table, but ends up going around a tree branch and then lands hard on the ground (played for laughs).
  • Yogi accidentally steps on a soldering iron, but doesn't initially realize it.
  • Yogi throws a rock that accidentally hits Ranger Smith.
  • A pie accidentally lands in Yogi's face.
  • Yogi tries to lower a magnet to lift Ranger Smith's lunch box, but he ends up falling off the cabin roof (we don't see the impact).
  • Yogi's picnic table contraption flings him through the air and into a tree.
  • While stapling fliers to a pole, Ranger Smith accidentally staples his finger (no blood).
  • Yogi tells Boo Boo to cuff him (Yogi) to a tree and then not let him go. Boo Boo does that, prompting Yogi to try everything to free himself. He eventually does, but the bent tree snaps back and whacks Yogi.
  • Park visitors panic during a fireworks display, with some running over Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff (he's fine beyond being a little dirty).
  • Ranger Jones drives fast in his ranger cart, loses control, and falls from that (but is okay).
  • Boo Boo walks Yogi along by pulling on his ear.
  • Yogi and Boo Boo run and then jump onto a moving train. As Yogi gets on, his head hits a sign, while his butt bounces along fence posts.
  • An inline skater has to avoid Yogi and Boo Boo and ends up going through a construction zone, accidentally causing some damage there.
  • Rachel grabs Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff by his tie to get her point across.
  • In a campaign commercial, Mayor Brown is seen hitting a criminal several times (in a comedy fashion).
  • Rachel jumps down onto Mayor Brown's Chief of Staff as he tries to make his escape.



  • Reviewed December 11, 2010 / Posted December 17, 2010

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