Movies

01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 13, 2006

BY MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal Arts Writer

Following their fractious divorce from the Disney Studios, one of the first films Bob and Harvey Weinstein chose to release with their new post-Miramax company is a computer-generated cartoon, a genre that made Disney what it is today. Coincidence?

Alas, Hoodwinked, a spin on the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, is no threat to the Mouse House. Nor is it in any danger of stealing the thunder of the DreamWorks animation factory which has successfully challenged Disney with Madagascar and the Shrek films, even though at times Hoodwinked seems to want to fit into the Shrek mold of tongue-in-cheek, barbed parody. That's what attracted more adults than children to the Shrek movies. Unfortunately, Hoodwinked isn't barbed enough or funny enough to win the hearts of anyone over the age of 5, despite its surprisingly all-star cast.

It's a clever idea, though, as Hoodwinked promises to give us the "truth" behind the fairy tale. It begins with the familiar tale: Red Riding Hood (voice by Anne Hathaway, of The Princess Diaries movies) goes to Granny's house and discovers the Wolf (Patrick Warburton) in bed, masquerading as Granny. And yes, a Woodsman -- named Paul Bunyan (Jim Belushi), no less -- comes to the rescue of the little girl.

But then filmmakers Todd and Cory Edwards don't kill off the Wolf, or Granny (Glenn Close), who has been tied up in a closet. The police arrive and soon each of them -- Red, Granny, the Wolf, the Woodsman -- has become a suspect in a case involving stolen cookie recipes. The chief inspector, a green frog named Nicky Flipper (David Ogden Stiers), begins interrogating each one in turn. In the style of the classic Japanese film Rashomon, each then tells a slightly different story.

The Wolf says he has been undercover, looking for the recipe thief himself. Paul Bunyan is really an actor who was practicing chopping trees so he could try out for a part in a TV foot creme commercial to prevent -- what else? -- bunions. Granny has a secret double life. And is Red Riding Hood really as sweetly naive as she seems? Not with those Ninja kicks of hers!

It sounds enchanting -- or, at least enchanted -- but it plays like the most ordinary of Saturday morning cartoons. The script (by the two Edwards brothers, plus Tony Leech) is pedestrian, with only a few really funny lines. "You again!" says Red Riding Hood upon discovering that it's the Wolf who's in Granny's bed. "What do I have to do, get a restraining order?"

Later, when she discovers that she's a suspect in the cookie theft caper, she asks, "Shouldn't I have a lawyer?"

And Paul Bunyan drives a truck from which he peddles "Schnitzel on a Stick."

But I had figured out pretty early on who the recipe thief was and I think most everyone out of grammar school will, too.

There are songs, as well, by Todd Edwards, but they are even more uninspired than the script. There's a mountain goat, for instance, who has labored under a 37-year-curse that forces him to sing every response he makes. But his songs are painful. The only fresh thing here is that his horns can change shape and length at whim and the first time we see him, they wrap down around him so he can use them as a rocking chair.

The animation itself was done at a studio in Manila, The Philippines, and although it's vibrantly bright, the human-faced characters look as though they're wearing plastic masks.

I fear the only ones who are hoodwinked in Hoodwinked will be the people who buy tickets.

**

Hoodwinked

Starring: Voices: Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton, David Ogden Stiers, Andy Dick, Xzibit, Anthony Anderson, Chazz Palminteri.

Rated: PG, contains adult themes, cartoon violence.