Vivo

With his bright orange fur, buoyant charm, and diverse taste in tunes, the adorable title character in Vivo is a standout. It’s too bad you can’t say the same for his eponymous animated adventure, an ambitious musical destined to get lost in the crowd.

The involvement of Broadway wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda is apparent right from the upbeat opening number, set in a vibrant Havana streetscape, which features striking CGI visuals, sumptuous genre-blending rhythms, and hints at an affectionate tribute to art bridging cultures — sort of like a transplanted kiddie version of In the Heights.

So far, so good. But unfortunately, the prologue also conjures expectations the rest of the film, directed by Kirk DeMicco (The Croods), struggles to maintain.

Vivo (voiced by Miranda) is a kinkajou, or a member of the lemur family, who is a loyal sidekick of aging street musician Andres (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez). When Andres receives a letter from Marta (Gloria Estefan), his childhood sweetheart turned global superstar, inviting him to her farewell concert in Miami, he sees it as a chance to reconnect — and to play a song he wrote just for her decades ago.

Then tragedy strikes, leaving Vivo as the last hope for Marta to hear Andres’ musical love letter. Getting to Florida is another matter, especially when he inadvertently winds up in luggage belonging to Gabi (Ynairaly Sibo), a carefree girl with a taste for adventure. She agrees to help, defying common sense and the wishes of her mother (Zoe Saldana).

Along the way, they encounter an eccentric collection of creatures, including a lovelorn spoonbill and a malevolent serpent. Can the duo, and the sheet music, reach Miami without being torn apart?

The bookend sequences present a touching story of friendship and unrequited love, along with enough amusing animal antics to keep smaller children engaged.

Vivo’s connection with Gabi starts out as playful detour, although the precocious youngster is an obvious ploy to draw in preteen viewers who can identify with her rebellious spirit and her short attention span. She’s the type of resilient young Latina heroine we rarely see on screen, in this case homogenized for mainstream consumption.

At any rate, the screenplay relies on a derivative road-trip narrative framework peppered with hyperactive sight gags, contrived peril, and forced quirks. Essentially two movies in one, Vivo’s creative promise makes its circumspect execution more frustrating.

Rated PG, 95 minutes.