Open Season - Growing up can be a confusing journey fraught with difficult choices. Boog (Martin Lawrence) is a domesticated grizzly bear who leads a perfectly happy life inside of Park Ranger Beth's (Debra Messing) garage, but a chance meeting with an overly energetic mule deer named Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) quickly changes everything and lands Boog high in the forest a few days before the opening of hunting season. Devoid of even the most basic survival skills, Boog and Elliot stumble through the woods and find themselves at the mercy of every forest animal from skunks to chipmunks as well as an evil hunter named Shaw (Gary Sinise). After unintentionally inciting and endangering an entire forest full of clever animals, Boog and Elliot come to the realization that only by banding together do the forest animals stand a chance of outsmarting the hunters and ensuring their own survival.

Open Season is the first animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, and takes its inspiration from cartoonist Steve Moore (In the Bleachers) and features animals with human-like intelligence, a vibrant colour palate, and skilled animation that makes everything from the wind blowing Boo's fur to the animals' wild trip down the falls simply breathtaking. While it doesn't quite live up to Over the Hedge, Open Season is an entertaining production that explores the difficult process of maturation, the universal need for acceptance, and the true value of friendship. --Tami Horiuchi