Some of the greatest movies of all time have been inspirational sports films. It's virtually impossible to make a bad one, unless it is targeted at kids. And if it's a kiddie baseball movie, forget it. The Sandlot and Bad News Bears are probably the only exceptions to the rule.

Let's take a look at all the kid to teen orientated baseball films: Rookie of the Year, Little Big League, Hard Ball, Mr. 3000, A Little Inside, The Comeback Kid, Angels in the Outfield, The Benchwarmers, The Last Home Run, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, Summer Catch, The Sandlot 2, The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, and lets not forget the Matt Le Blanc's 1995 movie Ed about a monkey playing minor league baseball. Notice a reoccurring theme? You're right, they are all horrible movies.

Everone's Hero is a Computer Animated movie directed by the late Christopher Reeve. Set in depression-era America, 10-year-old Yankee Irving is Babe Ruth's #1 fan. His father works at Yankee Stadium, and he hopes to one day become a baseball star. Only problem, he can't hit the ball.

Hungry for a World Series win, The general manager of the Chicago Cubs devises a plan to steal Babe Ruth's lucky bat named Darlin', which was made from a special thousand-year-old tree cut from the side of Mount Olympus.

"Without his bat, he's just big and fat," he says.

When the bat goes missing, Yankee's father is blamed and fired. Yankee decides to journey after the missing bat, which he believes was stolen by Lefty, a would-be pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, in hopes of saving his father's job. With him for the journey is a talking baseball (which only he can hear). A discarded foul major league ball, Scewie's cranky and negative attitude is anything but helpful. Together they travel over 1,000 miles, have all sorts of crazy adventures, and meet a bunch of interesting characters, with plans to deliver Babe's lucky bat before the final game of the 1937 World Series.

I wonder if children will find it hard to relate with the time period. My quick guess is no, the producers did a great job of making the key aspects relatable to a contemporary audience. At the same time, the film is not planted in the 1930's just for the hell of it. The screenwriters make some good use out of the time period. One of the most exciting moments of the film is a chase scene on a train. Now-a-days, sports stars travel on airplanes, and this sequence would not be possible. Yankee's father loosing his job is also played up a bit due to the depression, which means more is at stake. And at one point Yankee hitches a ride aboard a negro league team bus.

The movie features some good voice talent: Rob Reiner is cranktastic as Screwie, and William H. Macy is perfect as the oddball thief. Whoopi Goldberg is annoying as Babe's lucky bat Darlin'. And who cast Raven-Symone in this movie?

I know I've said this before, but it's great to see another animated film where the celebrity voices are playing characters, and the characters aren't just characters of the celebrities themselves. The trend started with Disney's Aladdin, and blew up huge with Shrek. While it may have worked in the two aforementioned movies, the technique has been the downfall of countless animated features from the last five years (Example: Shark Tale or Robots).

Whoever decided to score the film with contemporary pop music should be shot. The soundtrack features the likes of Five for Fighting, Raven-Symone (argh), Brooks and Dunn, Wyclef Jean and Lonestar. Whenever music begins to play, it immediately kicks you out of the story.

My one huge complaint is that the film leads up to an over-the-top ridiculous ending that children might even have trouble buying into.

Everyone's Hero features some of the best stylized animation in years. If Norman Rockwell made a computer animated film, it would look something like this.

I hate to make generalizations, but in my experience attending family films, I've noticed that the Mother, not the Father, is usually the guardian attending the movie with their son or daughter. Everyone's Hero is perfect for a Father/Son trip to the movies. It's an excuse to bond, and spend more time together.

Everyone's Hero is like a G-Rated animated family film of yesteryear. Gone are the adult in-jokes, and over the top tent-pole scenes, and in is wholesome family entertainment with an important inspirational message. It's easy to see why Christopher Reeve was drawn towards the film's main message of "keep on swinging."

Everyone's Hero is not a great film, but it's decent. And for a kid's sports movie, that's probably good enough considering.

/Film Rating: 5 out of 10

For Kids Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (mildly enjoyable)