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Eye-popping animation can't save 'Wild'

If you needed proof that the Disney animation unit is bankrupt of new ideas, that fact is abundantly clear in the studio's latest warm, fuzzy and way-too-familiar computer-generated cartoon feature, The Wild.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A rambunctious bunch of exotic animals breaks out of a New York City zoo and hit the high seas, running aground on the coast of Africa where they find a variety of perils, unlike anything they encounter in their cushy, caged existence. As any red-blooded American 6-year-old could tell you, that is the plot of last year's Madagascar. Yet here it comes again, Disnified with extra life lessons, the emotional trauma of parental separation and opportunities to conquer primal fears.

Walt Disney Pictures 'The Wild' D The verdict: Déjà vu all over again with this inferior Madagascar wannabe. Director: Steve 'Spaz' Williams Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Eddie Izzard, James Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, William Shatner Release date: April 14, 2006 Rating: G See showtimes Sneak Peek! Take a walk on wild side with these fresh movie stills. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Personally, one of my primal fears is sitting through a derivative, imagination-challenged hour-and-a-half of animation with little adult-targeted humor, but that describes The Wild. After a chummy father-and-son prologue between a story-spinning lion (Kiefer Sutherland) and his heard-it-all-before cub, the latter indulges his wanderlust, hops into a freight container and gets shipped far away, followed by his dad, Samson, giraffe Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), koala bear Nigel (Eddie Izzard) and a nameless squirrel (James Belushi). The voice cast is fine, but they wage a losing battle spouting the dialogue of an uninspired screenwriting committee.

At least the animation is eye-popping and richly detailed, far more intricate than in Chicken Little, with impressive fur textures, jungle foliage and simulated water. The visuals are state-of-the-art, but they cannot hide the plot deficiencies.

On the way to the dock, Samson and friends pass through a maze of product plugs in Times Square and, naturally, ride by the theater where The Lion King is playing. It is a nifty cross-promotion, but it only brings to mind a far better animated feature about a royal feline and a time, not that long ago, when Disney animation really roared.