Storks 3D

Stars: Voices: Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Danny Trejo, Kelsey Grammer, Stephen Kramer Glickman

Director: Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland

Another week and another attractively animated (think Looney Tunes on speed?) kidflick hits the screen.

Youngsters seeking enjoyably crazy comedy and action should be well pleased with screenwriter and co-director (with Doug Sweetland) Nick Stollers tall tale which finds stork Junior (voiced by Samberg) caught up in escalating trouble after being promoted by his father Hunter (voiced by Grammer), the boss of the massive online merchants Cornerstone.

I saved this company by getting out of babies and into package delivery notes Grammer. Babies are no longer made to measure and delivered by traditional avian transport.

Comic chaos escalates when fledgling Junior, given charge of the never-delivered human girl Tulip whose existence has been kept secret, accidentally revives long-dormant baby-creating machinery, producing a baby girl and leaving her and Junior to try and deliver the errant infant to a family whose naïve young son Nate has weirdly asked storks to bring him a baby brother

Cue corn and crazy comic action slapstick galore as daring duo Junior and Tulip boldly go where no storks have gone before for a very long time, with a posse of shape-shifting wolves on their trail, until the climax when unexpectedly effective (if by-the-book) sentiment shifts the mood.

Vocal casting is spot on. Samberg speaks amusingly for Junior, Crown blossoms as Tulip, Grammer is perfect as Juniors bombastic father Hunter, while Jennifer Aniston (better heard than seen?) speaks for baby-wanting Nates mother.

Its a fun family film and likely to be just as enjoyable (and cheaper!) in 2D.

Accompanying adults, however, should prepare themselves for some awkward offspring questions. With so many kids now able to access the Internet and learning so much and with sex education now endemic in schools, Storks could leave parents facing difficult-to-answer enquires regarding human procreation.

Thats Show Business?

(PS: Arrive a few minutes late and youll be really lucky since you will have missed a noisy, really crass short film plugging Lego animation. Long ago, as a medical student I attended post mortems that were much more fun and seemed shorter too).

Alan Frank

USA 2016. UK Distributor: Warner Brothers. Colour.
88 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: U.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 22 Oct 2016