The phrase “déjà vu all over again” ran through my brain almost continually while I watched The Wild. Disney’s latest animated cartoon is filled with scenes and themes reminiscent of similar ones in The Lion King, Finding Nemo, Madagascar, and Ice Age: The Meltdown. A lion cub struggles for maturity. A father searches for his missing son. A group of animals escape from the zoo and find themselves in a jungle rife with danger. One animal is unexpectedly singled out to be made a god or king by other creatures. Still, although filmmakers seem little concerned with originality in The Wild, they’ve put together a movie that will probably charm and entertain the youngest viewers. And, after all, that group is the target audience.

Most kiddies will find Nigel, the cute koala bear (voiced by British comedian Eddie Izzard), quite appealing, especially when he imitates the Statue of Liberty by holding up his miniature torch flashlight or gets involved with a herd of dancing wildebeests. And youngsters who are not frightened by Kazar, the wildebeests’ head choreographer (voiced by William Shatner), will surely be amused by that menacing character’s antics as he tries to keep his underlings in line with Rockette-type “step, kick, turn, kick” routines to the tune of “Really Nice Day” performed by  Eric Idle and John Du Prez. I understand the inimitable Shatner insisted on providing the animalistic grunts for Kazar, so he snorted, brayed and bellowed for ten straight minutes to give the filmmakers lots of noises to choose from. That turned out to be good idea, for it resulted in Shatner delivering the best voice performance here. 

The Wild’s simple story centers on the relationship between Samson (voiced by Keiffer Sutherland), a respected "wild" lion in the New York City Zoo, and his cub Ryan (voiced by Greg Cipes). After hearing Samson’s numerous tall tales about his bravery when living in the Wild, Ryan suffers a bad case of low self-esteem. He can’t even roar like any King of the Beasts should be able to do. In fact, all his attempts sound more like a kitten crying for its mother. No wonder the other animals laugh at him.

When Ryan is accidentally transported out of the Zoo, it’s up to Samson and his odd assortment of friends -- including Nigel, of course, plus a squirrel named Benny (voiced by John Belushi), a giraffe named Bridget (voiced by Janeane Garofalo), and a snake named Larry (voiced by Richard Kind) -- to rescue him. Their mission takes this motley crew through the Big Apple and across the ocean to a jungle in the Wild where they face ferocious creatures and an erupting volcano. As a result of their adventures, each of the characters changes for the better -- and the father/son relationship deepens.         

Because I enjoy Sutherland each week as Jack Bauer in TV’s hit series 24, it was a bit off-putting to hear his distinctive voice coming out of a lion’s mouth. Commenting on Samson, Sutherland says, “There are aspects of him that are heroic, and there are aspects of him that are like a straight man reacting to the comedy of others. There’s also this fantastic conflict in that he hasn’t been honest about his past. There’s a very nice arc that the character has to go through.” 

Unfortunately, neither Samson nor Ryan comes across as an entirely sympathetic character, so that puts a damper on my enthusiasm for this animated film. I do, however, admire the detail work by the animators. For example, Samson has more than six million hairs that had to be individually created via computer. Producer Clint Goldman explains, “In our film, characters’ eyes bug out and there’s a lot of squash and stretch. They get compressed and they can expand. Our animals can drive boats and do other things that animals wouldn’t normally be able to do. And we do all this in a world that seems real.”

However, by paying more attention to technology than originality, The Wild misses the boat as an entertaining film for viewers of all ages.

(Released by Walt Disney Pictures and rated “G” as suitable for all audiences.)