The hands-on quality of the animated real figures lends itself to old fashioned physical comedy, it's both hilarious and a relief to eyes unaccustomed to--and sick of--computer animation. The other thing is that the script has the virtue of 1) playing beautifully and hilariously to grown-up minds, and 2) teaching kids about grown-up conversation in a humorous and "family freindly" way. This movie is, above all, beautifully scripted. Do not miss this, and be sure to take the whole family.