Frozen chosen

Arctic Tale’s humor and hubris run cold | John Dawson

In the polar north, In a G-rated nature film, in a picture starring only walruses and polar bears—a flatulence joke. Is there anywhere that one can't go? With the steady and unyielding force of gravity, such jokes have pushed so deep into filmmakers' psyche that not even Arctic Tale (rated, yes, G) can resist.

In a journal of the life-cycle of walruses and polar bears near the North Pole, Arctic Tale's herd of walruses has just returned from a clam hunt and settled into a long spell of lounging when they spontaneously break out into what narrator Queen Latifah calls "a game of pull my flipper." Anyone might imagine what comes next, but no one can guess just how long the body-function soundtrack lasts.