Animated characters Tulip (voiced by Katie Crown) and Junior (voiced by Andy Samberg) appear in the movie "Storks." The Catholic News Service classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. (CNS/Warner Brothers)

By Catholic News Service

Occasionally funny but mostly awkward animated comedy in which the plans of an ambitious stork (voice of Andy Samberg) who’s been tapped by his boss (voice of Kelsey Grammer) to take over the big-box store shipping system his breed now operates in lieu of delivering babies are derailed when a human orphan (voice of Katie Crown) who was long ago stranded among the birds accidentally sets their disused infant manufacturing machinery to work. Together the duo scramble to get the child thus produced to her destined parents (voices of Jennifer Aniston and Ty Burrell) and young brother (voiced by Anton Starkman) before the potentially career-ruining mistake can be discovered.

Their odyssey is leavened with some positive, arguably pro-life, values and a clever turn by Stephen Kramer Glickman voicing the office nuisance who becomes the villain of the piece. But the intrusion of the gay agenda into the final moments of directors Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland’s film (Stoller also wrote the screenplay) makes it completely unsuitable for its target audience of kids.

Given the implicit equation of same-sex coupling with racial and ethnic diversity, and an unspoken endorsement of out-of-wedlock conception, even teens who are not well catechized should keep their distance. Fleeting visuals endorsing homosexual acts and unwed motherhood, some potentially scary situations. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

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