Curious George(2006)

Universal Pictures

G
1h 27m

Release Date: Feb 10, 2006 | Wide

A-
6.5

The Man in the Yellow Hat is an oddball museum employee who looks after his pet monkey, an inquisitive and wonderful creature whose enthusiasm often gets the best of him.

Releases

Original Release | Feb 10, 2006

View Advanced Data

Box Office Results

Updated as of May 12, 2026 11:39 AM ET

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$14,703,405
Total US & Canada:
$58,360,760
Total International
$11,505,164
Total Worldwide:
$69,865,924

Current Showtimes

orround

Tue May 12
Wed May 13
Thu May 14
Fri May 15
Sat May 16
Sun May 17
Mon May 18

Director & Top Cast

Matthew O’Callaghan
Director

Will Ferrell
Ted - Man with the Yellow Hat

Drew Barrymore
Maggie

Eugene Levy
Clovis

Frank Welker
George

Shane Baumel
Kid #1

Timyra-Joi Beatty

Kid #2

Christopher Chen

Kid #3

Michaela Jill Murphy

Kid #4

Dick Van Dyke

Mr. Bloomsberry

Alexander Gould

Kid #5

Terrence Hardy

Kid #6

Hailey Noelle Johnson

Kid #7

Kelsey Lansdowne

Kid #8

Ariel Winter

Kid #9

David Cross

Junior

Billy West

Manager

Jeff Bennett

Salesman

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States,Germany,Taiwan,France,Philippines,South Korea,Canada,United Kingdom

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

A clumsy, mischievous, friendly and curious monkey named George (Frank Welker) lives in the jungles of Africa. George is a curious creature and tries to learn as much as he can about everything. His behavior amuses the other young jungle animals but angers their parents. Therefore, George is left sad and alone.Meanwhile, at the Bloomsberry Museum, Ted (Will Ferrell), a museum employee and a tour guide living in New York City, teaches schoolchildren about natural history, not realizing that his lectures bore them. Afterward, he has a talk with Maggie (Drew Barrymore), the schoolteacher, who admires him and for whom he has strong feelings. Maggie brings her class to the museum every Thursday and finds Ted's talks amazing and insightful.Later, Mr. Bloomsberry (Dick Van Dyke), the owner of the museum, tells Ted that he is pressed to close the museum by his son, Bloomsberry Junior (David Cross), who wishes to build a parking garage in its stead. Bloomsberry says that the old exhibits of the museum are simply not pulling in the crowds needed and nothing is selling from the gift shop. As such, Bloomsberry says that the museum is broke. Junior says that the parking lot would have high hourly rates and no daily maximums. Ted is enraged and says that the world needs places where kids can visit and allow their knowledge and imagination to grow.This upsets Ted, who suggests, to revive the museum's popularity, that they obtain a 40-foot statue called the Lost Shrine of Zagawa. The statue is made of twenty tons of granite, carved by a thousand craftsmen over a hundred years.Mr. Bloomsberry is too old to go as he can barely stand, but Ted quickly volunteers to make the expedition. Bloomsberry offers to share his maps and journals with Ted, to help him find the shrine in the jungle. Jealous of Ted's constant praise from his dad, Junior burns half the map to sabotage the exhibition without them knowing.Ted is tricked into purchasing a yellow safari outfit with a yellow hat and boards a cargo ship to Africa, becoming humiliated in front of other passengers. In Africa, Ted leads a group on a four-day hike to the lost shrine. Ted is led by a local guide named Edu.George spots the yellow hat and, mistaking it for a large banana, follows the group. They soon notice each other and become friends. When Ted reaches the end of Junior's sabotaged map, he encounters a miniature idol. Believing this to be Zagawa itself, he gets depressed. On the resting place of the idol was an inscription that talked about turning the idol into a beam of light to reveal further secrets, but Ted ignores it.He gets a call from Mr. Bloomsberry and sends a picture of the statue. However, the angle of the picture causes Mr. Bloomsberry to believe the idol is much bigger. Ted returns to the docks, while George quickly follows with the hat. George sneaks onto the ship and rides to the city without Ted's knowledge.Upon arrival, Ted rides home in a taxi, and George follows him all the way to his apartment. Ted returns home and finds advertisements for the shrine all over the city. In Ted's apartment building, the monkey makes his way to the penthouse and vandalizes the walls of Ted's neighbor, Miss Plushbottom, with paint. Ted is evicted for violating a no-pets rule. Upset, Ted wonders what he is going to do with George. Together, they walk to the Bloomsberry Museum, where crowds of people await to see the idol. Junior overhears Ted complaining about the tiny idol and uses this to humiliate Ted. George inadvertently destroys a dinosaur skeleton, and Junior shoves Ted out of the museum.With nowhere to go, Ted and George sleep in a park. The next morning, Ted awakes to find George gone. Ted follows the monkey into the zoo, where Maggie and her students name the monkey "George" after a nearby statue of George Washington. Ted attempts to court Maggie, but George starts floating away, suspended by a bunch of balloons, and Ted goes after him in the same way. Together, they fly around the city, held aloft by Ted's balloons and using a kite to control their direction. When they float over the Bloomsberry museum, Ted holds out the idol and wishes it were big, which gives him an idea.Ted visits Clovis, an inventor who built the museum's Zagawa exhibit, who has a projection machine that can create a 40-foot-tall hologram of any object. Ted takes the projector to the museum, intending to use it to display the idol. He shows it to Mr. Bloomsbury, who agrees it would save the museum. Still jealous, Junior pours coffee on the projector and frames George when the projector breaks. A defeated Ted informs the public that the museum will permanently close and that there is no idol. Ted has a falling-out with George and orders him to leave, allowing Animal Control to capture George to be returned to Africa.Ted takes a walk through the city alone and is constantly reminded of his fun with George and his mischief. He speaks with Maggie, who helps him understand what is important in life.Ted gets on the cargo ship and frees George. While he tries to explain to George that their friendship is more important than any idol, a beam of sunlight passes through the tiny statue, creating a Pictogram showing the location of the full-size idol. Ted then realizes the true meaning of an ancient writing he saw back in Africa. Ted and George therefore travel to Africa in the ship's cargo bay, to rejoin Edu, Ted's guide, and find the true idol.The real idol is displayed in the museum, which reopens with new exhibits and Ted is praised as a hero for saving the institution. During the reopening celebration, Junior gets a job as a valet and receives acknowledgment from his father, Ivan has grown fond of George and invites Ted to return to his apartment and Ted and Maggie share a romantic moment, but are interrupted by George, who has activated a rocket ship before Ted jumps in and they repeatedly circumnavigate the globe.

Storyline

The man with the yellow hat named Ted Shackleford works at a natural history museum that's fallen on hard times. The museum director's son wants to turn it into a parking lot, but Ted offers to bring back a mysterious idol from Africa that's guaranteed to pull in crowds. Unfortunately, the idol turns out to be three inches tall. But Ted accidentally brings back a lonely yet irrepressible monkey, soon dubbed "George". They set off on a non-stop action, fun-filled journey through the wonders of the big city toward the warmth of true friendship. — Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com} Ted, works as a guide at the Bloomsberry museum, sent on a "business" trip of sorts by the museum's owner, to find a Zagawa shrine, he encounters a playfully mischievous and curious monkey...actually a chimp who he nicknames "George" after the George Washinghton statue. His trip being less than a success, he returns stateside, only to find George wanting to return Ted's hat, has stowed away on-board Ted's boat. Back in the states, Ted finds himself lumbered with George, who can't help but make Ted's life even more hectic than it already is. — suspiciousaccount

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