For animation fans who can’t get enough of talking animals, 2006’s Open Season might merit a look. The film introduces us to Boog (voiced by Martin Lawrence), a tame grizzly who performs with forest ranger Beth (Debra Messing). She contends with unpleasant hunters like Shaw (Gary Sinise) who live just to kill.

On a visit into town, Boog meets a buck named Elliot (Ashton Kutcher). Shaw bagged Elliot, but he ain’t dead yet, and Boog frees him from the hood of Shaw’s truck. Shaw sees this and develops a severe desire to shoot the bear.

Given Boog’s sheltered domestic state, this seems unlikely – until Elliot decides he needs to “free” the bear. Boog resists, but he gives in when Elliot lures him with a candy bar.

When they trash a closed convenience score on a snack binge, local cop Gordy (Gordon Tootoosis) captures Boog and tries to convince Beth she needs to return him to the wild. She resists, but after another Elliot-related fiasco, she decides she must take him back to nature.

The rest of the film follows Boog’s attempts to return to town, how he reacts to other animals, his relationship with Elliot, and his attempts to avoid death at the hands of Shaw.

With flicks like Madagascar and The Wild, haven’t we already gotten our fill of domesticated animals who get stuck in more natural habitats? I’d certainly think so, and while Season doesn’t simply emulate those prior efforts, there are more similarities than I’d like. Those factors make Season seem uninspired and almost like a sequel to the earlier flicks.

I suppose Season deserves some credit for avoiding lions, though a grizzly bear essentially acts like a Northwest equivalent. Much of the attempted comedy comes from the contrast between the fierce power of a vicious beast and the animal’s tame, coddled state. These films put the critters in “fish out of water” circumstances to which they have to adjust.

That general lack of inspiration spreads to all aspects of Season, and the voice acting seems acceptable but never any better than that. Actually, Kutcher proves surprisingly winning as the annoying Elliot.

He makes the character acceptably charming when necessary but adds a nice motor-mouthed quality to the role that allows Elliot to amuse. It’s not a great performance, but Kutcher offers arguably the most entertaining aspect of the flick.

Otherwise, I can’t find any standout work from the actors, though I suppose it’s a victory that Lawrence – an actor I don’t much like – manages to remain inoffensive here. He doesn’t add to the part, but he doesn’t detract either. The rest of the cast seems fine but not particularly memorable.

Season suffers from the moderately hyperactive tone that negatively affects so much work of this sort. Modern animated movies don’t seem content to let stories and characters develop.

Instead, they prefer to throw as many gags at us as they can, with plenty of wacky characters and situations. It doesn’t appear to matter if these fit the story, as the filmmakers seem afraid to let the pace ease at any point in the fear that we might get bored, I guess.

All of this leaves Open Season as a perfectly watchable but perfectly forgettable animated adventure. It doesn’t seem as relentlessly bland as The Wild, but it lacks the comic spark of Madagascar. This is the kind of flick that offers passable entertainment for an hour and a half and then completely leaves your memory.

Open Season appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Computer animated flicks usually look good on Blu-ray, and that trend continued with Season.

Sharpness appeared largely solid. A few wider shots could feel a bit soft, but most of the movie appeared crisp and well-defined.

Jagged edges and shimmering appeared absent, and I noticed no signs of edge enhancement. In addition, the movie suffered from no source flaws.

Season featured a natural and vivid palette that the disc replicated very well. Colors always came across with terrific clarity and life, so the hues seemed well-rendered.

Blacks also appeared deep and tight, while low-light shots were clean and smooth. This was a consistently positive picture.

I also liked the Uncompressed PCM 5.1 soundtrack of Open Season. Much of the movie favored the front channels, but the mix opened up well when appropriate.

All the animal escapades gave us some sonic activity, and the soundfield matched the film nicely. Music always demonstrated positive stereo imaging, and the effects created a realistic and involving sense of atmosphere. When the action heated up, the surrounds added a fine layer of material.

Audio quality seemed positive. Dialogue always came across as natural and warm, and I detected no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility.

Music appeared bright and dynamic, with concise highs and rich lows. Effects also were tight and realistic. How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? The lossless audio offered a bit more oomph and range than its lossy counterpart.

As for visuals, they boasted the usual format-based improvements, with stronger definition and colors. This turned into a good upgrade.

Most of the DVD’s extras repeat here, and we begin with an audio commentary from directors Jill Culton and Roger Allers, co-director Anthony Stacchi, and producer Michelle Murdocca. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the film’s origins, character design and story issues, cast and performances, animation topics, music, editing, and various trivia tidbits.

A perky commentary, this one includes a reasonable amount of information. Unfortunately, that perkiness often renders it heavy on the happy talk.

We get plenty of chipper remarks about what the folks like. That mars the presentation and almost negates the generally useful material that appears. This ends up as a moderately informative piece that suffers from too much praise for the film at hand.

Also under the “Commentaries” domain come character chats referred to as Inside the Animals Studio. We discover short “commentaries” from “Mr. Weenie” (1:31), “Porcupine” (0:42) and “Maria the Skunk” (0:49).

These present the animals as they comment on their acting experiences. They’re not particularly entertaining.

An exclusive short called Boog and Elliot’s Midnight Bun Run goes for four minutes, 31 seconds. In this cartoon, our heroes attempt to steal pastries from a campground trailer. Like the movie itself, it’s moderately amusing but not anything memorable.

Two featurettes appear. Behind the Trees lasts 15 minutes, 14 seconds as it brings notes from Culton, Allers, Stacchi, Murdocca, Sony Pictures Animation Executive Vice Presidents – Animation Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins, executive producer Steve Moore, character setup supervisor Mike Ford, visual effects supervisor Doug Ikeler, Sony Pictures Digital President Yair Landau, head of story David Feiss, art director Andy Harkness, look development lead Joe Strasser, supervising animators Sean Mullen, Todd Wilderman and Chris Hurtt, hair lead Chris Yee, head of layout James Williams, senior art director Luc Desmarchelier, editor Pam Ziegenhagen, co-producer Amy Jupiter, and songwriter/composer Paul Westerberg.

“Trees” looks at the origins of the project, character design and animal modeling, story development, various technical and animation issues, visual choices and influences, and score/songs. This allows it to provide a generally informative take on the project. I wouldn’t call it a fascinating featurette but it does the job.

The Voices Behind the Stars fills seven minutes, 35 seconds and includes notes from Rabins, Cox, Moore, Culton, Allers, Stacchi, Murdocca, co-head of story Donnie Long, and actors Ashton Kutcher, Martin Lawrence, Debra Messing, Billy Connolly, Jon Favreau, Jane Krakowski and Gary Sinise.

As implied by the title, this show looks at cast and performances. We get a nice glimpse of vocal choices and development, and I always enjoy shots from the recording sessions. Those make “Stars” informative and entertaining.

Two Deleted Scenes run a total of two minutes, three seconds. We find “Forest 102” (0:38) and “Facial Tick” (1:25). Both appear as storyreels that these show filmed storyboards accompanied by dialogue, music and effects.

“102” seems forgettable, but “Tick” is actually kind of funny. I don’t know if it should have made the final flick, but it’s amusing to see here.

We find a music video for “I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)” by Deathray. The cheapest kind of video, this one just offers a montage of movie clips accompanied by the tune. Skip it.

Three elements pop up under the banner of “Activities”. Voice-A-Rama lets you try different voices for various characters. It’s a cute piece as we hear unusual takes on the roles. We also find some that offer the lines in different languages.

Wheel of Fortune: Forest Edition lets us play a variation on the popular TV game show. It shows you clips from the film and requires you to identify elements.

It’s a trusting game, as you tell the player if you’re correct. This never becomes particularly challenging or interesting, and it goes on forever before it finally ends. At least it comes with a reward: an alternate “I Wanna Lose Control” music video.

“Activities” ends with a scene deconstruction for “Swept Away”. For this two-minute, 30-second segment, we get four angles: storyboards, layout, animation and final lighting.

There’s also a composite screen that shows all four at once. It’s a good way to examine the various stages.

Ringtales offers three very short promotional cartoons, with a full time of 55 seconds. It’s not clear where these clips originally ran, but they’re fun to see.

Some stills appear in the Galleries. These split into “Environments” (16 frames), “Characters” (36) and “Beat Boards” (8). These are all good to check out, as they offer nice conceptual art.

Anyone who looks to Open Season for an inspired animated romp will depart disappointed. The movie avoids the bland mediocrity of some flicks but never manages to make its own name for itself. It feels too derivative and doesn’t boast much to allow it to amuse or delight. The Blu-ray presents solid picture and audio and a collection of reasonably interesting extras. This is a good release for a second-tier animated flick.

To rate this film visit the DVD review of OPEN SEASON