★★★★☆
Charlotte’s Web, Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets and the Broadway musical Rent are just some of the influences on this buoyant animated musical comedy from the Saturday Night Live writer Robert Smigel and star Adam Sandler.
Set in a Florida junior school, it follows an ageing 74-year-old lizard named Leo (Sandler) who decides to become a de facto counsellor to the class’s disaffected students. What follows is a sweet and sometimes satirical movie that pillories modern parenting practices and includes just enough character detail to make Leo a credible New Age sage and the perfect foil for his wisecracking terrarium buddy Squirtle the turtle (Bill Burr).
Best of all are the tunes. Written by co-director Smigel, they are dropped in sparingly but with
