GEORGE differs sharply from, say, Disney's 101 DALMATIANS. There is definitely a formula in these flicks: lots of physical humor, specifically involving people getting smashed in the head repeatedly; a couple of bumbling bad guys who get beaten up and locked up; adults who are either stupid, evil, or both; a scheming, bitchy older woman; and at the core, a world populated with living, breathing cartoon characters. The formula sure didn't work for DALMATIANS, which was a nightmare. But it seems like somebody at Disney learned a lesson from DALMATIANS, because the reason that GEORGE does work (as a lite, mindless flick for kids with a sweet, if heavy-handed, moral), is because it is, essentially, a cartoon.

George (Brendan Fraser) and his animal friends are totally lovable. Sure, George is kind of simple, but he knows his way around the jungle and he has a true joie de vivre that is totally infectious. From start to finish, GEORGE is poking fun at itself. The narrator sounds sort of Masterpiece Theater-esque, but he has attitude--talking to the audience, fighting with the characters in the movie, stuff like that.

Don't get me wrong, GEORGE is two parts fart jokes, one part Hakuna Matata, and one part bulked-up tan guy in a g-string crashing into trees with little stars floating around his head. Nothing heavy.

The story? George's peaceful life in the jungle is interrupted when he saves the lovely heiress, Ursula (Leslie Mann), from a lion. More importantly, though, he also saves her from her heinous fiance, Lyle (Thomas Haden Church), who is an egotistical boor, coming to track Ursula down on her safari to bring her back to San Francisco for their impending nuptials. I would have thought that Thomas Haden Church (of "Wings" and "Ned and Stacey") would have done more with this role; but sadly, aside from a cute scene when he tries to make nice with the guides by using his handy Swahili phrase book, he is totally flat.

Meanwhile, George and Ursula are falling in love in the jungle. George gets much advice from his best friend, the ape named Ape (voice of John Cleese--great choice). His attempted seduction of Ursula, which involves throwing leaves and jumping around like a chimp with fleas, is pretty sweet. Many lessons are learned by Ursula the Heiress and, after a lot of wackiness that I won't get into here, George and Ursula end up back in San Francisco.

George in the urban jungle of San Francisco is your typical "fish out of water" stuff. He gets gussied up in Armani and looks kind of like Jon Bon Jovi. He watches TV and learns from commercials that coffee makes your woman fall in love with you. He gulps down a can of Chock Full O' Nuts coffee grounds and turns into a caffeine-fueled maniac. The kids in the theater were laughing hysterically during this scene; I'm thinking this kind of physical, goofball stuff is perfect for Fraser.

All's well that ends well, and GEORGE is all about that. Cheesy? Yes indeedy! And GEORGE is slow at times. But ultimately, it's a sweet movie for kids. The moral of the story--sort of your basic karmic wheel of life, do unto others kind of thing--is nice. GEORGE is what it is: a cartoon come to life.

E-mail Sib of the Jungle: sleg@echonyc.com.