This bland animated movie is strictly for the kids

Maybe there is still hope for the red ants that have attacked Norfolk parks to become cute, lovable, animated characters.

Or, perhaps, the four-legged, crawling reptiles of the Dismal Swamp.

If maggots can become cute movie stars, there's hope for those other creatures.

Movie animators seem to think they can give a bit of modern cynical edginess to their industry's traditional cuteness by turning rats in the kitchen into famous chefs and, now, flies aboard space capsules into heroes.

Cute (ugh) maggots and a feisty trio of boyish flies (household types) co-star in "Fly Me to the Moon," the 3-D film that has opened locally.

The result is a likable and harmless kiddie movie that, nonetheless, is not in the same league as Pixar's big-budget, clever-thinking entries ("Ratatouille," "WALL-E").

Nat, a perky little guy (make that fly), dreams of big adventure even though his mother (voice of Kelly Ripa) tells him that "dreamers get swatted."

He's been fired up by the tales of grandpa (voice of Christopher Lloyd) who relates how he helped Amelia Earhardt on her solo Atlantic crossing. He kept her from falling asleep by flying up her nose.

Nat decides to hitch a ride on Apollo 11 with Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins.

His pals are straight out of central casting: a nerdy, bespectacled fly named IQ and a chunky, roly-poly type named Scooter (who seems to be modeled after the fat mouse in Disney's "Cinderella").

Scooter gets the most laughs because he's a little naughty. He loves dung and admits he is afflicted by "meatball-ism."

They float in zero gravity to the tune of Strauss' "Blue Danube" (a nod to "2001: A Space Odyssey," which remains the primary point of movie reference for cool space travel). There are also lots of references to "Lord of the Flies" - real groaners.

It's nice that the voices are not from big stars, because Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and the like tend to distract us from the animated characters. Haven't animation producers noticed that casting famous voices hampers our suspension of disbelief?

As if someone suddenly realized we didn't have a villain, a subplot is added in which evil Russian flies with thick accents try to disrupt the mission. They are something of a nod, maybe, to Rocky and Bullwinkle, only they're not funny.

Our fly guys help the "astro-nuts" out by fixing an electrical short. Who needs space chimps when they're around?

It's sort of a bummer that the real-life Buzz Aldrin comes on after the film to tell us that no flies were actually aboard the Apollo 11 space capsule. Nothing like raining on our parade, Buzz, but no one's going to argue with you because we remember those stories about how you punched a guy who once suggested the mission was a media hoax.

The maggots, incidentally, are cute little schmoo-looking babies that coo but don't talk. Mama fly keeps them as pets, or something. Go figure.

The 3-D effects are OK, if the novelty of 3-D is not already fading. (The best effects in this category are in "Journey to the Center of the Earth." ).

"Fly" is stiffly animated and pretty bland. It's not likely to be an animation Oscar contender, but it's likable. It has little, though, that would encourage an adult crossover audience. It's strictly for wee ones.

Glasses are required, but no swatters are allowed in the theater.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com