Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius

Visually, the rendering of this sci-fi animation from the Nickelodeon stable is hardly Pixar-perfect, but it's not far off. Jimmy Neutron is Retroville's brightest young spark, an expert problem solver and prolific inventor. When his usually easy-going parents insist that, like his mates, he must miss the opening of a new amusement park, the kids sneak out anyway. On returning home, they find their parents have been abducted by aliens. Initially, the kids think it's a dream come true and riotously indulge, Home Alone-style, in all things previously prohibited. Soon, though, they realise they miss their folks, so Jimmy fashions a miraculous fleet of spaceships from the town's hardware and together they hit the intergalactic road with a view to kicking some alien butt. Youngsters will no doubt be charmed by the cute caricatures with their big round faces, whacky hairstyles and chirpy voices. Parents, too, should find a modicum of time-passing amusement in some of the jocular dialogue and the garish '50s milieu.