“Mr. Peabody & Sherman” @ FLMNH (July 26)

Published: July 21st, 2019

Category: News

The Florida Museum of Natural History’s “Creative B” summer film series features entertaining fantasy and science fiction films and roundtable discussions by scholars, scientists, writers, and artists.

On July 26, this summer’s series concludes with Rob Minkoff’s 2014 animated time travel comedy Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

Mr. Peabody is the smartest individual in the world, a scientist, Nobel laureate, gourmand, two-time Olympic medalist, and the inventor of the WABAC (“Wayback”), a time machine for traveling to and from the past. He lives in a spacious penthouse in New York City. He wears glasses and a red bow tie. Sherman is his also bespectacled, clumsy, and shy adopted son.

Mr. Peabody is a dog. Sherman is a human boy.

Peabody and Sherman use the WABAC to supplement Sherman’s history lessons at school, which Peabody considers deficient. But Sherman’s familiarity with the errors in conventional versions of the lives of historical figures often gets him into trouble with his classmates, and a cafeteria scuffle with one of them, Penny Peterson, puts Peabody’s custody of Sherman into jeopardy. In an attempt to resolve the crisis and smooth things over with Penny’s parents, Peabody invites the family to dinner. Left alone for a few minutes with the querulous Penny, Sherman decides – against Peabody’s strict instructions – to show her the WABAC…

Based on cartoonist Ted Key’s “Peabody’s Improbable History” episodes for Jay Ward’s 1959–1964 television series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, Mr. Peabody & Sherman adds new characters to their journeys through time, notably Penny, her parents, and Ms. Grunion, a Child Protective Services agent skeptical of Peabody’s parenting. Computer-animated and released in Digital 3D, the film departs significantly from the hand-drawn, two-dimensional style of the original cartoons but remains faithful in its depictions of the dog wonder and his boy, and their slapstick, pun-filled adventures.

Director Rob Minkoff also directed The Lion King (1994), Stuart Little (1999), Stuart Little 2 (2002), and The Haunted Mansion (2003). Mr. Peabody & Sherman’s script is by playwright and television writer Craig Wright, best known for his writing for the television series Six Feet Under and Lost. The score is by acclaimed film and television composer Danny Elfman. The principal characters are voiced by Ty Burrell (as Mr. Peabody), Max Charles (as Sherman), Ariel Winter (as Penny), Stephen Colbert (as Paul Peterson), Leslie Mann (as Patty Peterson), and Allison Janney (as Ms. Grunion).

The evening’s events begin at 7 PM. The screening will be preceded and followed by a roundtable discussion featuring:

  • Sarah Agnelli – Adjunct Assistant Professor, One Health Center for Excellence and member of the UF Leo19 Initiative Planning Committee
  • Ian Breheny – Museum Operations Specialist at the FLMNH, co-founder of the film series, and moderator
  • Tom Hart – Graphic novelist and Executive Director of Sequential Artists Workshop
  • Mark Law – Professor of Engineering, Director of the UF Honors Program
  • Tim Lawrence – Special effects artist and concept sculptor, ILM Creature Shop supervisor for Ghostbusters 2, concept sculptor for Jurassic Park and character FX crew and puppeteer for Gremlins 2 and Harry & the Hendersons

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is rated PG for mild action and brief rude humor.

All “Creative B” events are free and open to the public.

 

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