The formula for the movie itself—lush, gorgeous animation + simplistic “be yourself/family is important” themes = box office jackpot—may be obvious, but the actual family of characters and the world they inhabit has me stumped. We have a small group of cavefolk all on their lonesome as part of no larger social group, in a world of pastel-colored vegetation and strange animals that have never existed on earth, so I surmise that this is not meant to be an accurate depiction of prehistoric human life. Unless ... was The Croods secretly produced by the Institute for Creation Research, showing “the world’s first family” as white and coexisting with dinosaur-esque creatures and cherished 1950s values? The Croods! For everyone who loved The Flintstones, but didn’t find it depressingly conventional and conservative enough. By MaryAnn Johanson