Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Director Rob Minkoff and writer Craig Wright (with additional dialogue by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon) demonstrate yet again—as if we needed more proof—the folly of turning six-minute cartoons into 92-minute features. The old “Peabody's Improbable History” segments of The Bullwinkle Show had lousy animation but clever writing; the movie reverses the equation, and it's not a fair trade. In an apparent nod to animal-rights advocates, Sherman is promoted from Peabody's “pet boy” to his “adopted son,” and that's all Minkoff and Wright need to turn the movie into a maudlin wallow on the meaning of parenthood. Along the way, they cluck their tongues over that other family issue, school bullies. Ty Burrell and Max Charles provide the voices of Peabody and Sherman, and they're all wrong.