Review: The plucky animated tale Abominable could’ve easily been titled Adorable

(from left) Everest and Yi (Chloe Bennet) in DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio’s "Abominable," written and directed by Jill Culton.DreamWorks Animation

Abominable
Directed by Jill Culton and Todd Wilderman
Written by Jill Culton
Featuring the voices of Chloe Bennet, Eddie Izzard and Sarah Paulson
Classification PG
97 minutes

Rating:

They say Abominable. You’ll say “adorable.”

This animated feature from DreamWorks and director Jill Culton (a storyboard artist for the Pixar films Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Monsters Inc.) offers up a plucky Chinese adolescent heroine and a young Yeti who needs to be back in his Himalayan home. It’s an adventure yarn, a morality tale and an Asian travelogue, all wrapped up in a big furry ball of fun – which is actually the best description of the film’s giant puppy of a beast.

Films opening this weekend: Renée Zellweger’s star performance as Judy, the adorable Abominable and haunting Monos

The Yeti has escaped from a locked-down laboratory and landed in highly urban Shanghai, where protagonist (and self-proclaimed loner) Yi lives with her widowed mother and pork-dumpling-obsessed grandmother. A standard pursued-by-villain romp ensues, with bursting blueberries and chase scenes less interesting than a supernatural monster whose low-octave humming achieves a momentary and much-needed harmony with nature.

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast. Abominable has charms to soothe the savage child.

Abominable opens Sept. 27