Doug's 1st Movie

Here's something Hollywood needs to learn: kids can recognize tired conventions too. They want to see imaginative films just as much as adults -- maybe more, given their limber and surreal little minds. Doug's 1st Movie (a spinoff from the ABC Saturday-morning animated series Disney's Doug) doesn't offer much for adults or pre-schoolers. Doug Funnie is a 12-year-old twerpy Everykid who spends his time bouncing around town with his sidekick Skeeter, counting down the hours to the Valentine's Day dance and dreaming about his date, Patti Mayonnaise. After making friends with the local lake monster, Doug and Skeeter find themselves battling the city's water pollution and the evil industrialist responsible.

Aside from a few vivid Doug fantasy sequences, there's not much original here in the way of storytelling, dialogue, or animation. You can guess whether good prevails, and whether Doug makes the "right choice" between winning Patti or saving the monster. Even a kindergartener could answer that. The more important question is: will this be Doug's last movie?

-- Sarah Curtis