Smallfoot

The goal of Smallfoot is not to change your conviction regarding urban legends, but instead to alter your outlook on humanity.

Such ambition ultimately exceeds the reach of this mediocre animated adventure that tries to squeeze some deep philosophical lecturing into a family-friendly framework about talking Yetis who are as mystified of humans as we are of them.

It opens atop a Himalayan mountain, where Migo (voiced by Channing Tatum) lives among his fellow Yetis in a village sequestered from the outside world, and presided over by Stonekeeper (Common), whose laws are intended to conceal secrets for the common good. “If it goes against a stone, it can’t be true,” Migo learns from his working-class father (Danny DeVito).

After Migo becomes lost in a snowstorm, he encounters his first human — or “Smallfoot,” as he calls him — which he’s always believed didn’t exist. Percy (James Corden) is a fledgling nature-show host who senses the chance for a ratings boost. Putting aside their differences, the two become unlikely catalysts for promoting coexistence among people and beasts.

Small children might be amused by the vibrant colors, quirky characters, and slapstick antics — not to mention an eclectic voice cast that includes Zendaya and LeBron James — in a film where every frame is filled with computer-generated mayhem often without much regard for plot development or narrative coherence.

Along the way, there are some scattered laughs for those who buy into the goofball premise of this Yeti-out-of-water story, but not much to hold the interest of adults accompanying the target demographic to the theater. For them, it quickly becomes more exhausting than endearing.

A few forgettable songs feel like padding, with the exception being a rap-infused number from Common that explains more about the story’s mythology in two minutes than the entire movie did in the hour preceding it.

As directed by Karey Kirkpatrick (Over the Hedge), the frenetic pace settles down in the second half, when Smallfoot transitions into a darker critique of organized belief systems with real-world overtones that might be too convoluted or sophisticated for the kiddos.

Regardless, it’s a commendable effort, although the result never quite achieves the sense of discovery or deeper emotional resonance to which it aspires. Rather than warming your heart, the film winds up leaving a chill.

Rated PG, 96 minutes.