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Dec 05, 2014Nursebob rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
In the small backwoods town of Timberline, Boog the grizzly bear has it made. Living in the garage of the ranger who rescued him as a cub he never wants for food or attention, and all he has to do in return is put on a daily performance for tourists at the nearby national park. But when he saves Elliot, a somewhat impulsive deer, from Shaw, the town’s most notorious hunter, the overly thankful stag leads him on one too many destructive adventures giving the ranger no choice but to release him into the wilderness. Having only known the comforts of civilization Boog finds himself literally lost in the woods with only scatter-brained Elliot for companionship. Not sure how a bear is supposed to act (or where he’s supposed to poop even…old joke) Boog finds his new surroundings more than a little intimidating especially when his mild manners are mocked by the ethnically diverse forest denizens including a pair of whacked out French ducks, sassy Latina skunks, and a school of leaping ninja salmon…although McSquizzy, the truculent Scottish squirrel (voiced by Billy Connolly) has the best lines. But with hunting season approaching and Boog’s bumbling presence causing all the animals to be more vulnerable than usual, the kind-hearted bear unwillingly finds himself the last bastion of defence between woodland creatures and the hordes of gun-toting rednecks driving up from town—including Shaw who is thoroughly convinced that Boog and company are part of a global animal conspiracy. A spectacular showdown between man and animal ensues… Pretty much by-the-numbers animated offering featuring all the usual cultural references and Hollywood in-jokes (McSquizzy does a Braveheart routine while a little porcupine speaks in E.T. monosyllables) but the visual gags are a few notches above average and the colourful characters are actually very funny although die-hard hunters may not appreciate their neanderthal cartoon counterparts. It was enough to make me laugh out loud a few times, and that’s saying a lot.