Hero monkey story is dog of a movie

This family animation, featuring the voices of Drake Bell and Rob Schneider, will please younger cinemagoers with its physical comedy, but offers nothing new.

Jungle Shuffle. Courtesy WonderWorld Studios

Jungle Shuffle

Director: Taedong Park, Mauricio De la Orta

Voice actors: Drake Bell, Rob Schneider, Jessica DiCicco

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This family animation features the former child actor Drake Bell voicing an outcast Coati monkey, who must team up with an unlikely companion to save his love from her human captors. While the array of talented voice stars (Rob Schneider, Jessica DeCicco) do their best to inject some energy into proceedings, the story is very reminiscent of so many animated films before it – an underdog hero proves himself by rescuing the one he loves. Added to this is a computer game-like animation style, nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as the best in this genre and especially distracting when shown in 3-D. Unlikely to give Pixar any sleepless nights, Jungle Shuffle will please younger cinemagoers with its physical comedy, but offers nothing new.