Open Season: Scared Silly

The fourth film—direct-to-video—in Sony Pictures' rambunctious CGI talking-animal kiddie franchise is a sort of Halloween episode, even though nobody utters the “H” word. Series protagonist Elliot (voiced here by William Townsend), a nutjob deer, worries that his domesticated-bear friend Boog (Donny Lucas) is too mild-mannered for woodland life. He uses the legend of a local creature, the “Wailing Wampus Werewolf,” to test Boog's courage, but a series of accidents convinces both the animals and nearby humans that a genuine werewolf is at large. Returning series villain Shaw (Trevor Devall), a maniacal rifleman, finagles permission to wield his cherished gun again to kill the lycanthrope; of course, Shaw also plans to shoot as many others animals as he can as collateral damage. The Open Season movies are determinedly anti-hunting—in between butt gags and fast-expiring topical humor (such as The Secret self-help fad). Here, a grand opera soliloquy by a dachshund is the comic and visual creative highlight. Still, Bugs Bunny did it better and shorter (and without farts). Optional. (C. Cassady)