Ted

Ted is the theatrical writing and directing debut of Seth McFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad.

Starring Mark Walberg and Mila Kunis, Ted follows the story of John, an 8 year old boy who wishes his Christmas teddy bear would come to life. By magic the wish comes true, and now the 35 year old John is at a pivotal point with his long-time girlfriend Lori. Rather than properly committing, John finds himself pulled back by the distraction of Ted and his crazy antics.

McFarlane does a great job of managing his cast, who all give very good performances, and allows the audience easy access to this world through some clever yet simple plot points, like using a montage of Ted’s rise to fame after the world discovers that a stuffed bear has really come to life, and all questions about what the limits of that magic are answered during the course of the film.

I initially thought Ted would just be another third-wheel story with jokes thrown in, but it turned out to be so much more than that, with a wide range of humour, emotional turns and a fair bit of action thrown in.

Seth’s time on Family Guy is evident with cast members Mila Kunis (Meg), Alex Borstein (Lois) and Warburton (Joe) all on screen, but also his use of references, cameos and anthropomorphism. Flash Gordon takes centre stage here as John and Ted’s childhood favourite, but there are obvious points to Star Wars, Airplane and Indiana Jones. Sam Jones, Tom Skerritt, Ryan Reynolds and Norah Jones all make appearances, showing McFarlane’s work has definitely pulled plenty of attention.

 

Brian (the talking dog from Family Guy) is a clear comparison for Ted. As in the late night animation you’ll see the duality of Ted as both a person and a stuffed animal balanced, like comments on his lack of genitalia.

Ted is created primarily through motion capture technology with McFarlane himself used as reference. Overall the quality of the CG is really very good, and the interactions between Ted and other characters are completely believable.

As you’d expect Ted doesn’t take itself too seriously, but does show off what McFarlane is capable of.

With a wide range of humour, emotional turns and a fair bit of action thrown in, Ted is very funny and well worth a watch if you’re a fan of any of McFarlane’s work.

 

8.5/10.