DreamWorks' latest CG animation sees The Croods attempting to muscle in on Fred, Barney and Wilma's turf and become everyone's favourite prehistoric family. In a 2012-meets-Land-Of-The-Lost scenario, mum, dad and sprogs flee headlong from a molten apocalypse and straight into the jaws of an astonishing selection of weird and wonderful creatures.

Danger lurks around every corner. Oh wait, that's not even a corner. It's a frickin' sabre-toothed parrot. See what we mean...

Technically, the clan's adventures take place in the 'Croodaceous period' rather than the Stone Age, a time before Mother Nature had quite figured out what she was doing. The zany flauna and flora reflect the unstable period between Ice Age and NeverEnding Story. Coping with it are Grug (Nicolas Cage), Ugga (Catherine Keener), Eep (Emma Stone) and Thunk (Clark Duke), with Guy (Ryan Reynolds) the token survivor from outside the family.

Noela Hueso's The Art Of The Croods - out now from Titan Books, fact fans - pieces the creature design and cast interviews together, along with a Nicolas Cage foreword (look out for his use of the expression "genius loci"), into a fun, beautifully crafted piece of world-building.



The Croods, meanwhile, is out on March 22.

Credit: © DreamWorks 2013