• Doogal - A saccharine, cheap-looking CGI import from Britain about a lazy, cowardly, sugar-addicted pooch (with a mullet cut) who must find a way to save the world from an icy death is not the follow-up to Hoodwinked that Disney escapees Bob and Harvey Weinstein hoped for...or we asked for. At least they've got the swell Over The Hedge in theaters this week. Formerly titled The Magic Roundabout and re-dubbed (Doogal, that is. Not Over The Hedge.)

• Duma - With most arthouse films rated "R", it is always a pleasure when one comes along that culture mavens can take their kids to, and The Black Stallion director Carroll Ballard's latest nature trek -- a visually lovely adventure -- certainly does fit that bill. It is about a 12-year-old South African boy (Alexander Michaletos) who must return his pet cheetah to the wild, encountering and overcoming a number of obstacles along the way, the biggest one being our initial reluctance to accept its premise.
 

The most astonishing thing about Duma isn't the film itself; it's how difficult it's been for this beautiful film to get into theaters where people can see it. Roger Ebert campaigned for the film back in August of last year, and at that time noted Warner Bros. exec  Dan Fellman said the studio, which also distributed runaway success March of the Penguins,  was disappointed in the film's box office returns. Fellman expressed surprise at the time that one film was so successful while the other struggled, in spite of positive response from audience members and critics alike.

Duma was directed by Carroll Ballard, who has previously made some great family films, including The Black Stallion and Fly Away Home. With Ballard at the helm giving us his hallmark spectacular landscapes and fantastic cinematography, and a compelling story about a boy and his cheetah, you'd think Duma would have had no trouble making its mark. Yet according to Box Office Mojo, Duma has currently brought in only $870,00 at the box office, compared to March of the Penguins gargantuan take of nearly $77.5 million. And having seen both films, I can't understand why, unless it just comes down to Penguins having a broader appeal or being better marketed.