Animal Crackers

Blessed with an all-star vocal cast and a creative premise, the animated comedy Animal Crackers has been in distribution limbo for three years — a potentially troubling detail that, coupled with a fairly bumpy start, may give viewers unnecessary pause.

Co-directors Tony Bancroft (Mulan) and newcomer Scott Christian Sava (who also co-wrote the film, based on his graphic novel) squeeze in a ton of entertaining set-up in a matter of minutes regarding the evil Horatio P. Huntington (Ian McKellen, relishing the villainy) and his exile from Buffalo Bob’s Animal Circus.

From there, Animal Crackers stagnates for a stretch while slowly advancing to the next plot point, yet sufficiently establishes the strong familial bond between Owen (John Krasinski), his wife Zoe (Emily Blunt), and their young daughter Mackenzie (Lydia Rose Taylor), as well as Owen’s desire to quit working as a dog biscuit taste-tester for his father-in-law Mr. Woodley (Wallace Shawn, in peak exasperated form).

Likewise problematic is the independently-financed film’s visual style, particularly the character design of its human players — which are several levels above basic computer animated creations, though only occasionally show flashes of major studio slickness.

But once Owen is bequeathed the circus and eats the first titular snack — which turns him into the specific beast the cookie resembles — the film hits its groove and rarely lets up. As our hero figures out how to wow the growing crowds with the range of animals available to him, the jokes land more consistently, the increase in big-top action (cued to the likes of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”) revs up the pace, and the animation — which lends itself far better to creatures than people — looks as good as any genre peer this year. 

Additional appeal comes courtesy of the identifiable voice work, including the real-life husband-and-wife rapport of Blunt and Krasinski, Danny DeVito as the circus’ affable clown Chesterfield, and a textbook live-wire Gilbert Gottfried as Horatio’s top henchman Mario Zucchini, who refers to himself in third-person and hilariously doesn’t quite understand the meaning of the word “henchman.”

Strong as Animal Crackers’ comedy is during this concluding run, it wouldn’t work nearly as well without the plentiful sense of heart that its creators and cast establish from the start. In that sense, the overlong opening act is largely justified, but there’s also the feeling that a more streamlined narrative would have allowed the film to achieve its full potential.

Grade: B-minus. Rated G. Available to stream via Netflix

(Photo: Netflix)