Freeview film of the day: Mr Peabody & Sherman

Mr Peabody & Sherman will only provide a Proustian rush to those raised in the US in the 1950s and 60s, as they were featured in a segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Accordingly, the belated computer-animated film spin-off might as well be an original. Genius dog Peabody (voiced by Modern Family’s Ty Burrell) has adopted a human boy (Max Charles), whom he educates by zipping back and forth in time. The animation style, under the aegis of Lion King director Rob Minkoff, honours the smooth simplicity of the original 2D cartoon, appealing enough to keep us watching a fairly basic rescue plot: Sherman’s brattish classmate Penny (Modern Family’s Ariel Winter) travels back to ancient Egypt and stays there to marry King Tut. The Renaissance, the Trojans and George Washington also feature, and Danny Elfman’s score whizzes. A revival series is now streaming on Netflix.

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