Cute story, not rendered as well as it could have been

Rating: 5/10 (6 February 2010)

Execution is awkward. There's a cute story here, somewhere. But the presentation is so random, so rushed, that it's hard to follow what these people are supposed to be doing. And why. Adults will be annoyed with the off-kilter delivery, kids will be lost.
There are some decent visuals and sight gags. The outhouse lab entrance is very clever, for example. But, like so many other things: when it's introduced, it zooms by like a blur. Characters come out of nowhere; perform a scene; disappear. I liked how the story brought together a shy couple with parallel back stories, but even this wasn't developed very well. Many times there's unbridled action with vivid colors, but what's going on? Pivotal characters like the bushy eyebrow dad could have been explained to the audience better. Many characters like the cop and the mayor are just stereotypes that never change, even though the story needs them to. And the guy in the chicken suit? Talk about random; what was up with that?
On the plus side, it's certainly got enough slapstick, silliness, and wild action for younger kids. They probably won't follow half of what's happening, but they may not care, anyway. The inventor, the weather reporter, and the sardine store owner are likable heroes. The animation technology is handled pretty well.
Good enough for a rental, but you'll probably want to watch it only once.